What is made up of all the rest quarks?

  • Context: High School 
  • Thread starter Thread starter Sheldon73
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Quarks Rest
Click For Summary
SUMMARY

The discussion centers on the composition of protons and neutrons, which are made up of up and down quarks. It highlights that various quarks form a large family of baryons and mesons. Notably, baryons and mesons containing heavy quarks are generally unstable and decay quickly due to weak interactions. The J/ψ particle is mentioned as a long-lived example, decaying primarily through electromagnetic and weak interactions, with a narrow width of 92.6 keV.

PREREQUISITES
  • Understanding of quark types, specifically up and down quarks
  • Familiarity with baryons and mesons
  • Knowledge of weak interactions in particle physics
  • Basic concepts of particle decay and stability
NEXT STEPS
  • Research the properties and classifications of baryons and mesons
  • Study the weak interaction and its role in particle decay
  • Explore the characteristics of the J/ψ particle and its decay processes
  • Investigate the stability of strange particles and baryons
USEFUL FOR

Particle physicists, students of quantum mechanics, and anyone interested in the fundamental components of matter and their interactions.

Sheldon73
Messages
1
Reaction score
0
TL;DR
The proton and neutron are composed of up and down quarks. What is made up of all the rest quarks?
The proton and neutron are composed of up and down quarks. What is made up of all the rest quarks?
 
Physics news on Phys.org
  • Like
Likes   Reactions: Sheldon73 and vanhees71
Should be added that due to the nature of weak interactions, all baryons and mesons containing heavy quarks are unstable and generally decay relatively fast. They are not present in large quantities anywhere.
 
  • Like
Likes   Reactions: vanhees71
Well, fast is relative. Since the weak interaction is really weak, some hadrons can be considered as quite stable if there's no strong interaction process leading to its decay. A famous example is the ##J/\psi##, which is pretty long-lived because it only decays through the electromagnetic and weak interaction. It has a very narrow width of 92.6 keV (compared to its mass of about 3.1 GeV):

https://pdglive.lbl.gov/Particle.action?init=0&node=M070&home=MXXX025#decayclump_G
 
Longest lived strange particle is long K0... with ct of 16 m. Longest lived strange baryon is Λ... with 7,8 cm. Whereas n has 260 million km.
 
  • Like
Likes   Reactions: vanhees71
Orodruin said:
decay relatively fast
vanhees71 said:
Well, fast is relative.
I don’t see a contradiction here. ;)
 
  • Like
Likes   Reactions: vanhees71 and PeroK

Similar threads

  • · Replies 2 ·
Replies
2
Views
2K
  • · Replies 12 ·
Replies
12
Views
2K
  • · Replies 46 ·
2
Replies
46
Views
7K
  • · Replies 4 ·
Replies
4
Views
3K
  • · Replies 24 ·
Replies
24
Views
3K
  • · Replies 9 ·
Replies
9
Views
917
  • · Replies 13 ·
Replies
13
Views
2K
  • · Replies 3 ·
Replies
3
Views
2K
  • · Replies 4 ·
Replies
4
Views
3K
  • · Replies 2 ·
Replies
2
Views
2K