Quantum-ChromoDynamics (QCD) is the quantum field theory believed to describe the strong nuclear force.

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Is there an equation for the strong nuclear force?

The equation describing the force due to gravity is $$F = G \frac{m_1 m_2}{r^2}.$$ Similarly the force due to the electrostatic force is $$F = k \frac{q_1 q_2}{r^2}.$$ Is there a similar equation ...
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Mathematically, what is color charge?

A similar question was asked here, but the answer didn't address the following, at least not in a way that I could understand. Electric charge is simple - it's just a real scalar quantity. Ignoring ...
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Could the fractional model of Quarks electric charge turn out to be false? [closed]

The delta baryons (also called delta resonances) are a family of subatomic hadron particles which have the symbols $\Delta^{++}$, $\Delta^{+}$, $\Delta^{0}$, and $\Delta^{−}$ and electric charges +2, ...
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What are the details around the origin of the string theory?

It is well-known even among the lay public (thanks to popular books) that string theory first arose in the field of strong interactions where certain scattering amplitudes had properties that could be ...
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Is it pions or gluons that mediate the strong force between nucleons?

From my recent experience teaching high school students I've found that they are taught that the strong force between nucleons is mediated by virtual-pion exchange, whereas between quarks it's gluons. ...
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The contribution to mass from the dynamical breaking of chiral symmetry

The claim is often made that the discovery of the Higgs boson will give us information about the origin of mass. However, the bare masses of the up and down quarks are only around 5 MeV, quite a bit ...
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Where can I get the most accurate measurements of parton distribution functions?

Where would I look to get the most accurate experimental values of parton distribution functions for the proton? I know these functions aren't measured directly, but I'd basically like to find a fit ...
6
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1answer
270 views

Why are the Higgs phase and the confinement phase identical in Yang-Mills-Higgs systems?

If we couple a Yang-Mills theory with a Higgs field and some quarks in the fundamental representation, we can have a Higgs phase and a confining phase. However, they are indistinguishable. The Wilson ...
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Is there an explanation for the 3:2:1 ratio between the electron, up and down quark electric charges?

I understand that the NNG formula relates $Q$, $I_3$, and $Y$ and can be derived in QCD; does this unambiguously predict the electric charge ratios without making assumptions about the definitions of ...
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What's the deepest reason why QCD bound states have integer charge?

What's the deepest reason why QCD bound states have integer electric charge, i.e. equal to an integer times the electron charge? Given that the quarks have the fractional electric charges they do, ...
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Cramer's rule, Origin of Quarks Fractional electric charge? [closed]

In linear algebra, Cramer's rule is an explicit formula for the solution of a system of linear equations with as many equations as unknowns. 2u+1d=1 1u+2d=0 $$a_1d+b_1u=c_1$$ $$a_2d+b_2u=c_2$$ ...
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Is there a strong force analog to magnetic fields?

In special relativity, magnetism can be re-interpreted as an aspect of how electric charges interact when viewed from different inertial frames. Color charge is more complex than electric charge, but ...
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How much energy can be extracted from hydrogen?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B-L says that the difference between baryon number and lepton number is conserved. Ordinary hydrogen has one of each, but turning it into helium releases only the binding ...
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Bound states in QCD: Why only bound states of 2 or 3 quarks and not more?

Why when people/textbooks talk about strong interaction, they talk only about bound states of 2 or 3 quarks to form baryons and mesons? Does the strong interaction allow bound states of more than 3 ...
7
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2answers
336 views

What is a mass gap?

I read that Quantum Chromodynamics is a theory with a mass gap. What is a mass gap in laymen terms? Why some theories have it? Which theories does not have it? Note: I searched for mass gap before ...
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1answer
204 views

Reference for the ${\cal N}=3$ Chern-Simons Lagrangian at general $N_c$, $N_f$

I was wondering if someone could give me a reference where someone has explicitly written the Lagrangian for ${\cal N}=3$ $SU(N_c)$ Chern-Simons theory coupled to $N_f$ fundamental hypermultiplets. ...
4
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1answer
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Wilson loops and gauge invariant operators (Part 2)

These questions are sort of a continuation of this previous question. I would like to know of the proof/reference to the fact that in a pure gauge theory Wilson loops are all the possible gauge ...
4
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1answer
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Is the color gauge group spontaneously broken in QCD by the Savvidy vacuum?

One model for confinement in quantum chromodynamics is the Savvidy vacuum. This is a spontaneous symmetry breaking of color gauge symmetry by the gauge fields. The vacuum is divided into Savvidy ...
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Weak isospin and types of weak charge

My understanding is that QCD has three color charges that are conserved as a result of global SU(3) invariance. What about SU(2) weak? Does it have two types of charges? What I'm getting at is: U(1) ...
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Possible implications of Quark Quartet

Today on Nature's website appeared a news about the discovery of a quark quartet (formed from two quarks and two antiquarks). They say that this particle containing four quarks is confirmed. This is ...
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1answer
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Is color confinement detected?

I'm a graduate student studying QFT. I'm quite interested that is color confinement detected or proved? (both directly and indirectly) Or it is just an assumption?
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4answers
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Do strong and weak interactions have classical force fields as their limits?

Electromagnetic interaction has classical electromagnetism as its classical limit. Is it possible to similarly describe strong and weak interactions classically?
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Gauge invariance of gg->gg scattering amplitude?

I'm trying to calculate the spin and color averaged gg->gg cross section, and I am stumbling upon gauge invariance: Must the amplitude not be invariant under replacements $\epsilon_i \to \epsilon_i + ...
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Similar masses and lifetimes of the $\Delta$ baryons

Why do the four spin 3/2 $\Delta$ baryons have nearly identical masses and lifetimes despite their very different $u$ and $d$ quark compositions?
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QCD Parton Branching - Is the angle always negligible?

The GLAP equation describes the evolution of parton distribution under successive branchings. When branching takes place at a finite angle, the outgoing parton carries some finite transverse momentum. ...
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1answer
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Pion Decay and Fractional electric Charge disappeared, why?

Since the charged pions decay into two particles, a muon and a muon neutrino Fractional electric Charge disappeared, why? The decay proceeds by the weak interaction $W^{+}$ and can be visualized in ...