Hadron Physics

The term hadron refers to particles that contain either two or three valence quarks, sub-classified as mesons and baryons respectively.

Nucleons (protons and neutrons) contain three valence quarks. The theory of Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD) is used to describe the underlying physics of strong interactions, which keeps the quarks tightly bound within a hadron. Single free quarks outside a hadron are never observed – a phenomenon known as confinement.

This area of research aims to understand the physical mechanisms by which hadrons are held together, how these interactions generate the observable properties of the hadrons, such as their masses and spins, and whether these properties are at all modified within the environment of the nucleus.