What distinguishes different gluons?

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What distinguishes different gluons? All 8 have spin 1 and zero mass so what properties make a gluon different from any other?
 
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chris_183 said:
What distinguishes different gluons? All 8 have spin 1 and zero mass so what properties make a gluon different from any other?
Their color charge : they carry different combinations of color. This is not gauge invariant, so their is no way to physically distinguish between them. Yet the number 8 is gauge invariant and physical, as paradoxical as it may seem :smile:
 

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