Forge Capsule

Quantum Chromodynamics: Quarks, Gluons, and Color Confinement

QCD (Quantum Chromodynamics): the theory of the strong force. Quarks: up/down/charm/strange/top/bottom — 6 flavors, 3 colors (red/green/blue). Gluons: 8 massless gauge bosons mediating strong force, carry color charge. Color confinement: free quarks never observed — only color-neutral (white) hadrons. Hadrons: baryons (3 quarks, e.g. proton=uud), mesons (quark-antiquark). Asymptotic freedom: coupling constant decreases at high energy (Gross, Politzer, Wilczek — Nobel 2004). Running coupling: α_s(M_Z) ≈ 0.118. Lattice QCD: numerical simulation on discrete spacetime grid. Quark-gluon plasma (QGP): extreme temperature/density phase, studied at LHC (ALICE) and RHIC. Chiral symmetry breaking: light quark masses <<...