Types of Hadrons and How They Interact in Particle Physics
Hadron Meaning
We have universally acceptable scales to measure the size of objects around us. As we go higher up the normal scale the things get bigger and their scales also get bigger. Just like that, we can go on a smaller scale, where a mass is a combination of a number of molecules and a molecule is a combination of a number of atoms. Here the hadron is a subatomic term that is smaller than an atom. Even the subatomic parts are made of some things which are smaller than that and called quarks. In a simple word hadron is a subatomic particle. On that level, hadrons are known as the heaviest particle.
Insight to What is A Hadron
A hadron is a subatomic particle that contains quarks, antiquarks, and gluons. Any atom containing quarks, antiquarks, and gluons will be considered as hadron. Every hadron will definitely have at least three quarks, three antiquarks, and gluons. In hadrons, even colors of that quark and antiquark do matter a lot. Hadrons are characterized by strong interacting particles.
Hadron carries a strong electric charge because the quarks which are inside the hadron, they carry functional electric charges. Hence the combination of those quarks makes a combined electric charge and hadron carry a net charge of all the quarks.
Types of Hadron
Hadron comes under strong interacting particles. Since hadron is made by the combination of quarks, antiquarks, and gluons, on the basis of the combination, the hadron is classified into two main types.
Mesons
Baryons
Mesons
Mesons have the mass which ranges in between the mass of the electron and the mass of the proton. It is the combination of a quark and an antiquark. Since it is a highly interacting antiparticle, it is highly unstable. But instability does not affect their lives. They still survive for a long period of time which is a few billionths of seconds. Every meson has a different mass and they all vary in mass at a large range.
Baryons
Baryons have a mass that will be either equal to the mass of the proton or greater than the mass of the proton. It has the combination of three quarks that is, it has valence quarks containing an odd number. It is also a form of fermion family. Since fermions have half-integral spin all the particles under baryons will have half-integral spin.
Hadron Particle
The Hadron particle has the longest life from all the other particles which get converted into another form.
The meson, which is a type of hadron, has almost 140 types. From all of them, the lightest meson known is the pion.
The mesons come under bosons which have integral multiple spins.
Some of the particles which come under mesons are pion, kaon, and eta. Pion and eta have zero strangeness. Kaon strangeness is +1.
Barton, another form of a hadron, has almost 120 known types.
Some of the particles which come under baryon are nuclei, Lambda, Sigma, Xi, Omega. From all of them, Omega has a bigger mass.
The strangeness of nuclei is zero and the strangeness of Lambda and Sigma are -1. Xi has strangeness of -2 and Omega has the most negative strangeness which is -3.
From all of the baryon particles, a proton is the lightest particle. Since the proton is the lightest particle, it is the only hadron particle that remains stable also in free space.
Hadron Collider
The large hadron collider (LHC) is a particle collider and the world’s largest machine. It is a very powerful particle accelerator.
It was built in the time period of 1998 and 2008, by the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN).
This collider is 26.7 kilometers long in a circle and is placed in a tunnel of 27 kilometers.
It is placed below France -Switzerland border near to Geneva in the deep, ranging from 50 meters to about 175 meters. The weight of this machine is more than 38000 tones.
This machine is useful in reproducing the condition which existed after the big bang collision. Colliding beams of high energy protons or ions, it is tried to reproduce the condition which was there in between the billionth of seconds after the big bang.
This big bang situation was held almost 13.7 billion years back.
If we consider the large hadron collider (LHC) project then the hadron is the only one part of it. The other two parts of LHC are the detectors and worldwide LHC computing grid (WLCG).
The four detectors which are used are ATLAS, ALICE, CMS, and LHC. These detectors are placed in the chamber around the collider. These detectors are used in detecting the outcomes which get after the collision of the high energy particles.
FAQs on What Are Hadrons? Definition, Types, and Role in Physics
1. What exactly is a Hadron in Physics?
A hadron is a type of composite particle made up of smaller fundamental particles called quarks. These quarks are bound together by the strong nuclear force. Hadrons are not elementary particles; they have an internal structure. They are the family of particles that includes protons and neutrons.
2. What are the two main types of Hadrons?
Hadrons are classified into two main groups based on their quark composition:
- Baryons: These are made up of three quarks. The most common examples are protons and neutrons, which form the nucleus of atoms.
- Mesons: These are unstable particles made of one quark and one antiquark. Examples include pions and kaons.
3. Are common particles like protons and neutrons considered Hadrons?
Yes, absolutely. Protons and neutrons are the most stable and well-known types of hadrons. Specifically, they are classified as baryons. A proton consists of two 'up' quarks and one 'down' quark, while a neutron consists of one 'up' quark and two 'down' quarks. Their composition of quarks is what makes them hadrons.
4. What is the key difference between a Hadron and a Lepton?
The primary difference lies in the forces they interact with and their composition. Hadrons are composite particles made of quarks and are affected by the strong nuclear force. Leptons, such as electrons and neutrinos, are fundamental particles (not made of anything smaller) and do not feel the strong force at all.
5. Why are Hadrons so important for understanding the structure of matter?
Hadrons are fundamental to our existence. The two most stable hadrons, protons and neutrons, combine to form the nucleus of every atom in the universe. Understanding hadrons helps us explain how atomic nuclei are held together, why matter has mass, and the nature of the strong force, which is one of the four fundamental forces of nature.
6. Can the quarks that make up a Hadron ever exist freely on their own?
No, quarks cannot exist freely on their own. This phenomenon is known as quark confinement. The strong force that binds quarks together actually increases with distance. If you try to pull a quark out of a hadron, the energy required becomes so immense that it creates a new quark-antiquark pair, resulting in the formation of a new hadron instead of an isolated quark.
7. How can a meson be a hadron if it contains an antiquark, which is antimatter?
A particle is classified as a hadron if it is composed of quarks and interacts via the strong force. A meson, which is made of one quark and one antiquark, fits this definition perfectly. The presence of an antiquark simply defines its specific type within the hadron family. It's a valid combination that is bound by the strong force, making mesons an essential, albeit unstable, part of the hadron group.
