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1 vote
0 answers
52 views

Colour Factor in QCD Pair Annihilation

My question occurred when I was reading Introduction to Elementary Particles by David J. Griffiths. In chapter 8, part 8.5, he is calculating the colour factor of quark-antiquark annihilation. My ...
quantumology's user avatar
0 votes
0 answers
47 views

What does conservation of color charge mean for mixed states in QCD?

In quantum chromodynamics, in an interaction in which a quark and an anti-quark exchange a gluon, the color charge must be conserved. When we are talking about base states like $r\bar{b}$ it seems ...
Felipe S's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
292 views

Why $\pi^+$ meson possible combinations of quarks is only three?

I am a starter at nuclear and particles physics. I am reading particles and nuclei an introduction to the physical concepts. There was a paragraph about Colour-neutral particles and how only ...
Kid A's user avatar
  • 176
2 votes
1 answer
91 views

How is the colour quantum number not conserved in this process?

I stumbled upon this CERN article, where I found this diagram describing the process $gg \rightarrow HH$: I'm still new to QCD, and I don't see how a coloured gluon can decay into colourless final ...
Physicist_285's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
183 views

Why is the $SU(4)$ group not suitable for describing color symmetry?

How to demonstrate that the $SU(4)$ group cannot be a group of symmetry of a color charge?
Lord_of_Physics's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
475 views

Why don't green and anti-green gluons immediately annihilate each other?

I can't believe I haven't found an answer elsewhere..... I have read repeatedly about blue/anti-blue gluons, etc., but no reason as to why they don't destroy each other immediately..... Or maybe they ...
Kurt Hikes's user avatar
  • 4,509
1 vote
2 answers
514 views

Color symmetries in variant QCD

Suppose we only have two colors, for example, red (R) and blue (B) to construct the wave functions of baryons and mesons and that the color symmetry is SU (2) and not SU (3). In this situation, ...
Murillo de Godoy's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
535 views

What exactly is the color charge in QCD? [duplicate]

I don't have strong background in particle physics. Though, I had learnt a little of it. I have gone through the basic of these stuffs (pretty OK). If I have done my homework right, color charge (R,G,...
user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
688 views

What is the effect of the Gell-Mann matrices on color antiparticles?

I'm studying QCD and I can't understand how exactly are defined the color antiparticles. Indeed, we have the particle color triplet $(r,g,b)$. With the usual SU(3) algebra, we define the 8 Gell-Mann ...
Frotaur's user avatar
  • 2,296
4 votes
3 answers
2k views

How can a detector distinguish between a photon and a gluon

Considering that both gluons and photons have no mass, no charge and spin 1, I was wondering how one can tell the difference, if they hit a detector after a collision at the LHC. I know that gluons ...
always_curious's user avatar
9 votes
1 answer
2k views

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 ...
user1247's user avatar
  • 7,398