4 ms·
I think I could see how this could work, but I'm not sure. So it sounds to me like we have a situation where either (a) quark isolation would violate conservati
by dataflow 4y ago
I think I could see how this could work, but I'm not sure. So it sounds to me like we have a situation where either (a) quark isolation would violate conservation of energy, or (b) isolated quarks (assuming we could at hypothetically have them in theory, even if not in practice) wouldn't actually exert this constant strong force on each other (at least until they're close together and the "link" can get established, so to speak), and instead only exert some sub-1/r^2 force on each other before then. Am I correct to guess the situation is more like (b)?
- addaon 4y agoAre you confusing force and energy? Force without acceleration does not change energy.
- dataflow 4y agoI don't believe I am. Unless you're saying two particles placed some distance apart in otherwise empty space could exert a force on each other and somehow still not move?
- addaon 4y agoIf you have two particles in empty space with an (attractive) force between them… how did they get apart to begin with? This potential energy was introduced to the system when they were separated, and will be converted to kinetic energy as they attract. Color confinement is basically a way of saying that the potential energy needed to separate color-charged particles stays high with increasing distance, until you put in enough energy to produce new (color-neutral) particle pairs that locally bind to the particles you were separating.
- jfengel 4y agoIt's actually (a). Isolated quarks basically can't exist. If one did exist, there would be so much energy in the form of virtual particles that it would grab on to one of them instantly. It's called "color confinement". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_confinement https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_confinement
- dataflow 4y agoWow amazing. Thank you!