Fundamental constituents of hadrons
Quarks are elementary fermions that interact through the strong force described by quantum chromodynamics (QCD). They combine to form hadrons such as baryons and mesons.
| Property | Description |
|---|---|
| Spin | \( \frac{1}{2} \) |
| Statistics | Fermi–Dirac |
| Color Charge | Red, Green, Blue |
| Isolation | Not observed freely (confinement) |
| Flavor | Symbol | Charge | Mass (approx.) | charm | Colour | Beauty | Strangeness | Baryon Number |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Up | u | +2/3 | 2.2 MeV | |||||
| Down | d | −1/3 | 4.7 MeV | |||||
| Strange | s | −1/3 | 96 MeV | |||||
| Charm | c | +2/3 | 1.27 GeV | |||||
| Bottom | b | −1/3 | 4.18 GeV | |||||
| Top | t | +2/3 | 173 GeV |
The force between quarks increases with separation distance. This leads to color confinement, preventing free quarks.