Skip to content Skip to navigation

Connexions

You are here: Home » Content » Asymptotic freedom and the quark confinement hypothesis

Navigation

Recently Viewed

This feature requires Javascript to be enabled.
 

Asymptotic freedom and the quark confinement hypothesis

Module by: Shantanu Mishra. E-mail the author

Summary: This module of mine gives a fundamental idea of the theory of asymptotic freedom and the quark confinement hypothesis. It contains assimilated elements from various books and dictionaries.

The theory of asymptotic freedom states that the interaction between quarks reduces as the distance between them reduces (and hence energy increases), and tends to zero as the distance between them reduces to zero.Conversely, the interaction between them increases as they are separated by larger distances (and hence lower energies). If a theory requires the presence of Higgs Boson, asymptotic freedom is destroyed.Hence, the electroweak theory is not asymptotically free (or, the electromagnetic and weak forces are asymptotically not free).Also the strong nuclear force obeys the theory of asymptotic freedom.

Another result, originating from the theory of asymptotic freedom, is the quark confinement hypothesis.Recalling the implications of the asymptotic freedom, we ultimately see that the force between the two quarks (due to a special kind of charge called "colour charge"), increases at lower energies as they are separated more and more from one another.This leads to the idea that free quarks are never seen in isolation.Can you see why? As we try to increase the distance between, say a pair of quarks, they will have more affinity for each other and hence will be interacting even more strongly with each other.So, it is not possible to isolate a free quark. But it is possible that at very high temperatures, such as those of the early universe, quarks might have become free.The temperature at which quarks become free is known as "Deconfinement temperature".

Content actions

Download module as:

PDF | EPUB (?)

What is an EPUB file?

EPUB is an electronic book format that can be read on a variety of mobile devices.

Downloading to a reading device

For detailed instructions on how to download this content's EPUB to your specific device, click the "(?)" link.

| More downloads ...

Add module to:

My Favorites (?)

'My Favorites' is a special kind of lens which you can use to bookmark modules and collections. 'My Favorites' can only be seen by you, and collections saved in 'My Favorites' can remember the last module you were on. You need an account to use 'My Favorites'.

| A lens I own (?)

Definition of a lens

Lenses

A lens is a custom view of the content in the repository. You can think of it as a fancy kind of list that will let you see content through the eyes of organizations and people you trust.

What is in a lens?

Lens makers point to materials (modules and collections), creating a guide that includes their own comments and descriptive tags about the content.

Who can create a lens?

Any individual member, a community, or a respected organization.

What are tags? tag icon

Tags are descriptors added by lens makers to help label content, attaching a vocabulary that is meaningful in the context of the lens.

| External bookmarks