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In particle physics, a baryon is a type of
composite Composite or compositing may refer to: Materials * Composite material, a material that is made from several different substances ** Metal matrix composite, composed of metal and other parts ** Cermet, a composite of ceramic and metallic materials ...
subatomic particle In physical sciences, a subatomic particle is a particle that composes an atom. According to the Standard Model of particle physics, a subatomic particle can be either a composite particle, which is composed of other particles (for example, a prot ...
which contains an odd number of valence quarks (at least 3). Baryons belong to the
hadron In particle physics, a hadron (; grc, ἁδρός, hadrós; "stout, thick") is a composite subatomic particle made of two or more quarks held together by the strong interaction. They are analogous to molecules that are held together by the e ...
family of particles; hadrons are composed of
quark A quark () is a type of elementary particle and a fundamental constituent of matter. Quarks combine to form composite particles called hadrons, the most stable of which are protons and neutrons, the components of atomic nuclei. All commonly o ...
s. Baryons are also classified as
fermion In particle physics, a fermion is a particle that follows Fermi–Dirac statistics. Generally, it has a half-odd-integer spin: spin , spin , etc. In addition, these particles obey the Pauli exclusion principle. Fermions include all quarks and ...
s because they have half-integer
spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thread by twisting fibers together, traditionally by hand spinning * Spin, the rotation of an object around a central axis * Spin (propaganda), an intentionally b ...
. The name "baryon", introduced by
Abraham Pais Abraham Pais (; May 19, 1918 – July 28, 2000) was a Dutch- American physicist and science historian. Pais earned his Ph.D. from University of Utrecht just prior to a Nazi ban on Jewish participation in Dutch universities during World War II ...
, comes from the Greek word for "heavy" (βαρύς, ''barýs''), because, at the time of their naming, most known elementary particles had lower masses than the baryons. Each baryon has a corresponding
antiparticle In particle physics, every type of particle is associated with an antiparticle with the same mass but with opposite physical charges (such as electric charge). For example, the antiparticle of the electron is the positron (also known as an antie ...
(antibaryon) where their corresponding antiquarks replace quarks. For example, a proton is made of two
up quark The up quark or u quark (symbol: u) is the lightest of all quarks, a type of elementary particle, and a significant constituent of matter. It, along with the down quark, forms the neutrons (one up quark, two down quarks) and protons (two up quark ...
s and one
down quark The down quark or d quark (symbol: d) is the second-lightest of all quarks, a type of elementary particle, and a major constituent of matter. Together with the up quark, it forms the neutrons (one up quark, two down quarks) and protons (two up ...
; and its corresponding antiparticle, the
antiproton The antiproton, , (pronounced ''p-bar'') is the antiparticle of the proton. Antiprotons are stable, but they are typically short-lived, since any collision with a proton will cause both particles to be annihilated in a burst of energy. The exis ...
, is made of two up antiquarks and one down antiquark. Because they are composed of quarks, baryons participate in the
strong interaction The strong interaction or strong force is a fundamental interaction that confines quarks into proton, neutron, and other hadron particles. The strong interaction also binds neutrons and protons to create atomic nuclei, where it is called the ...
, which is
mediated ''Mediated: How the Media Shapes Your World and the Way You Live in It'' is a non-fiction book by anthropologist Thomas de Zengotita published in 2005 by Bloomsbury about the effect of the media in the Western world. Summary ''Mediated'' aim ...
by particles known as
gluon A gluon ( ) is an elementary particle that acts as the exchange particle (or gauge boson) for the strong force between quarks. It is analogous to the exchange of photons in the electromagnetic force between two charged particles. Gluons bind q ...
s. The most familiar baryons are protons and neutrons, both of which contain three quarks, and for this reason they are sometimes called ''triquarks''. These particles make up most of the mass of the visible
matter In classical physics and general chemistry, matter is any substance that has mass and takes up space by having volume. All everyday objects that can be touched are ultimately composed of atoms, which are made up of interacting subatomic parti ...
in the universe and compose the
nucleus Nucleus ( : nuclei) is a Latin word for the seed inside a fruit. It most often refers to: * Atomic nucleus, the very dense central region of an atom *Cell nucleus, a central organelle of a eukaryotic cell, containing most of the cell's DNA Nucl ...
of every atom. ( Electrons, the other major component of the atom, are members of a different family of particles called
lepton In particle physics, a lepton is an elementary particle of half-integer spin ( spin ) that does not undergo strong interactions. Two main classes of leptons exist: charged leptons (also known as the electron-like leptons or muons), and neut ...
s; leptons do not interact via the strong force.)
Exotic baryon Exotic baryons are a type of hadron (bound states of quarks and gluons) with half-integer spin, but with a quark content different from the three quarks (''qqq'') present in conventional baryons. An example would be pentaquarks, consisting of fou ...
s containing five quarks, called
pentaquark A pentaquark is a human-made subatomic particle, consisting of four quarks and one antiquark bound together; they are not known to occur naturally, or exist outside of experiments specifically carried out to create them. As quarks have a baryo ...
s, have also been discovered and studied. A census of the Universe's baryons indicates that 10% of them could be found inside galaxies, 50 to 60% in the circumgalactic medium, and the remaining 30 to 40% could be located in the
warm–hot intergalactic medium The warm–hot intergalactic medium (WHIM) is the sparse, warm-to-hot (105 to 107 K) plasma that cosmologists believe to exist in the spaces between galaxies and to contain 40–50% of the baryonic 'normal matter' in the universe at the curre ...
(WHIM).


Background

Baryons are strongly interacting
fermion In particle physics, a fermion is a particle that follows Fermi–Dirac statistics. Generally, it has a half-odd-integer spin: spin , spin , etc. In addition, these particles obey the Pauli exclusion principle. Fermions include all quarks and ...
s; that is, they are acted on by the
strong nuclear force The strong interaction or strong force is a fundamental interaction that confines quarks into proton, neutron, and other hadron particles. The strong interaction also binds neutrons and protons to create atomic nuclei, where it is called the ...
and are described by
Fermi–Dirac statistics Fermi–Dirac statistics (F–D statistics) is a type of quantum statistics that applies to the physics of a system consisting of many non-interacting, identical particles that obey the Pauli exclusion principle. A result is the Fermi–Dirac d ...
, which apply to all particles obeying the
Pauli exclusion principle In quantum mechanics, the Pauli exclusion principle states that two or more identical particles with half-integer spins (i.e. fermions) cannot occupy the same quantum state within a quantum system simultaneously. This principle was formula ...
. This is in contrast to the
boson In particle physics, a boson ( ) is a subatomic particle whose spin quantum number has an integer value (0,1,2 ...). Bosons form one of the two fundamental classes of subatomic particle, the other being fermions, which have odd half-integer s ...
s, which do not obey the exclusion principle. Baryons, along with mesons, are
hadron In particle physics, a hadron (; grc, ἁδρός, hadrós; "stout, thick") is a composite subatomic particle made of two or more quarks held together by the strong interaction. They are analogous to molecules that are held together by the e ...
s, particles composed of
quark A quark () is a type of elementary particle and a fundamental constituent of matter. Quarks combine to form composite particles called hadrons, the most stable of which are protons and neutrons, the components of atomic nuclei. All commonly o ...
s. Quarks have
baryon number In particle physics, the baryon number is a strictly conserved additive quantum number of a system. It is defined as ::B = \frac\left(n_\text - n_\bar\right), where ''n''q is the number of quarks, and ''n'' is the number of antiquarks. Baryon ...
s of ''B'' =  and antiquarks have baryon numbers of ''B'' = −. The term "baryon" usually refers to ''triquarks''—baryons made of three quarks (''B'' =  +  +  = 1). Other
exotic baryon Exotic baryons are a type of hadron (bound states of quarks and gluons) with half-integer spin, but with a quark content different from the three quarks (''qqq'') present in conventional baryons. An example would be pentaquarks, consisting of fou ...
s have been proposed, such as
pentaquark A pentaquark is a human-made subatomic particle, consisting of four quarks and one antiquark bound together; they are not known to occur naturally, or exist outside of experiments specifically carried out to create them. As quarks have a baryo ...
s—baryons made of four quarks and one antiquark (''B'' =  +  +  +  −  = 1), but their existence is not generally accepted. The particle physics community as a whole did not view their existence as likely in 2006,W.-M. Yao et al. (2006)
Particle listings – Θ+
/ref> and in 2008, considered evidence to be overwhelmingly against the existence of the reported pentaquarks.C. Amsler et al. (2008)
Pentaquarks
/ref> However, in July 2015, the
LHCb The LHCb (Large Hadron Collider beauty) experiment is one of eight particle physics detector experiments collecting data at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN. LHCb is a specialized b-physics experiment, designed primarily to measure the paramete ...
experiment observed two resonances consistent with pentaquark states in the Λ → J/ψKp decay, with a combined
statistical significance In statistical hypothesis testing, a result has statistical significance when it is very unlikely to have occurred given the null hypothesis (simply by chance alone). More precisely, a study's defined significance level, denoted by \alpha, is the p ...
of 15σ. In theory, heptaquarks (5 quarks, 2 antiquarks), nonaquarks (6 quarks, 3 antiquarks), etc. could also exist.


Baryonic matter

Nearly all matter that may be encountered or experienced in everyday life is baryonic
matter In classical physics and general chemistry, matter is any substance that has mass and takes up space by having volume. All everyday objects that can be touched are ultimately composed of atoms, which are made up of interacting subatomic parti ...
, which includes atoms of any sort, and provides them with the property of mass. Non-baryonic matter, as implied by the name, is any sort of matter that is not composed primarily of baryons. This might include neutrinos and free electrons,
dark matter Dark matter is a hypothetical form of matter thought to account for approximately 85% of the matter in the universe. Dark matter is called "dark" because it does not appear to interact with the electromagnetic field, which means it does not a ...
, supersymmetric particles,
axion An axion () is a hypothetical elementary particle postulated by the Peccei–Quinn theory in 1977 to resolve the strong CP problem in quantum chromodynamics (QCD). If axions exist and have low mass within a specific range, they are of interest ...
s, and
black hole A black hole is a region of spacetime where gravity is so strong that nothing, including light or other electromagnetic waves, has enough energy to escape it. The theory of general relativity predicts that a sufficiently compact mass can defo ...
s. The very existence of baryons is also a significant issue in cosmology because it is assumed that the Big Bang produced a state with equal amounts of baryons and antibaryons. The process by which baryons came to outnumber their
antiparticle In particle physics, every type of particle is associated with an antiparticle with the same mass but with opposite physical charges (such as electric charge). For example, the antiparticle of the electron is the positron (also known as an antie ...
s is called
baryogenesis In physical cosmology, baryogenesis (also known as baryosynthesis) is the physical process that is hypothesized to have taken place during the early universe to produce baryonic asymmetry, i.e. the imbalance of matter (baryons) and antimatter ( ...
.


Baryogenesis

Experiments are consistent with the number of quarks in the universe being a constant and, to be more specific, the number of baryons being a constant (if antimatter is counted as negative); in technical language, the total
baryon number In particle physics, the baryon number is a strictly conserved additive quantum number of a system. It is defined as ::B = \frac\left(n_\text - n_\bar\right), where ''n''q is the number of quarks, and ''n'' is the number of antiquarks. Baryon ...
appears to be '' conserved.'' Within the prevailing Standard Model of particle physics, the number of baryons may change in multiples of three due to the action of
sphaleron A sphaleron ( el, σφαλερός "slippery") is a static (time-independent) solution to the electroweak field equations of the Standard Model of particle physics, and is involved in certain hypothetical processes that violate baryon and lepto ...
s, although this is rare and has not been observed under experiment. Some
grand unified theories A Grand Unified Theory (GUT) is a model in particle physics in which, at high energies, the three gauge interactions of the Standard Model comprising the electromagnetic, weak, and strong forces are merged into a single force. Although this ...
of particle physics also predict that a single proton can decay, changing the baryon number by one; however, this has not yet been observed under experiment. The excess of baryons over antibaryons in the present universe is thought to be due to non- conservation of baryon number in the very early universe, though this is not well understood.


Properties


Isospin and charge

The concept of isospin was first proposed by
Werner Heisenberg Werner Karl Heisenberg () (5 December 1901 – 1 February 1976) was a German theoretical physicist and one of the main pioneers of the theory of quantum mechanics. He published his work in 1925 in a Über quantentheoretische Umdeutung kinematis ...
in 1932 to explain the similarities between protons and neutrons under the
strong interaction The strong interaction or strong force is a fundamental interaction that confines quarks into proton, neutron, and other hadron particles. The strong interaction also binds neutrons and protons to create atomic nuclei, where it is called the ...
. Although they had different electric charges, their masses were so similar that physicists believed they were the same particle. The different electric charges were explained as being the result of some unknown excitation similar to spin. This unknown excitation was later dubbed ''isospin'' by Eugene Wigner in 1937. This belief lasted until Murray Gell-Mann proposed the
quark model In particle physics, the quark model is a classification scheme for hadrons in terms of their valence quarks—the quarks and antiquarks which give rise to the quantum numbers of the hadrons. The quark model underlies "flavor SU(3)", or the Ei ...
in 1964 (containing originally only the u, d, and s quarks). The success of the isospin model is now understood to be the result of the similar masses of u and d quarks. Since u and d quarks have similar masses, particles made of the same number then also have similar masses. The exact specific u and d quark composition determines the charge, as u quarks carry charge + while d quarks carry charge −. For example, the four
Deltas A river delta is a landform shaped like a triangle, created by deposition of sediment that is carried by a river and enters slower-moving or stagnant water. This occurs where a river enters an ocean, sea, estuary, lake, reservoir, or (more rar ...
all have different charges ( (uuu), (uud), (udd), (ddd)), but have similar masses (~1,232 MeV/c2) as they are each made of a combination of three u or d quarks. Under the isospin model, they were considered to be a single particle in different charged states. The mathematics of isospin was modeled after that of spin. Isospin projections varied in increments of 1 just like those of spin, and to each projection was associated a " charged state". Since the " Delta particle" had four "charged states", it was said to be of isospin ''I'' = . Its "charged states" , , , and , corresponded to the isospin projections ''I''3 = +, ''I''3 = +, ''I''3 = −, and ''I''3 = −, respectively. Another example is the "nucleon particle". As there were two nucleon "charged states", it was said to be of isospin . The positive nucleon (proton) was identified with ''I''3 = + and the neutral nucleon (neutron) with ''I''3 = −.S.S.M. Wong (1998a) It was later noted that the isospin projections were related to the up and down quark content of particles by the relation: :I_\mathrm=\frac n_\mathrm-n_\mathrm)-(n_\mathrm-n_\mathrm) where the ''ns are the number of up and down quarks and antiquarks. In the "isospin picture", the four Deltas and the two nucleons were thought to be the different states of two particles. However, in the quark model, Deltas are different states of nucleons (the N++ or N are forbidden by
Pauli's exclusion principle In quantum mechanics, the Pauli exclusion principle states that two or more identical particles with half-integer spins (i.e. fermions) cannot occupy the same quantum state within a quantum system simultaneously. This principle was formulated b ...
). Isospin, although conveying an inaccurate picture of things, is still used to classify baryons, leading to unnatural and often confusing nomenclature.


Flavour quantum numbers

The
strangeness In particle physics, strangeness ("''S''") is a property of particles, expressed as a quantum number, for describing decay of particles in strong and electromagnetic interactions which occur in a short period of time. The strangeness of a parti ...
flavour quantum number In particle physics, flavour or flavor refers to the ''species'' of an elementary particle. The Standard Model counts six flavours of quarks and six flavours of leptons. They are conventionally parameterized with ''flavour quantum numbers'' th ...
''S'' (not to be confused with spin) was noticed to go up and down along with particle mass. The higher the mass, the lower the strangeness (the more s quarks). Particles could be described with isospin projections (related to charge) and strangeness (mass) (see the uds
octet Octet may refer to: Music * Octet (music), ensemble consisting of eight instruments or voices, or composition written for such an ensemble ** String octet, a piece of music written for eight string instruments *** Octet (Mendelssohn), 1825 com ...
and decuplet figures on the right). As other quarks were discovered, new quantum numbers were made to have similar description of udc and udb octets and decuplets. Since only the u and d mass are similar, this description of particle mass and charge in terms of isospin and flavour quantum numbers works well only for octet and decuplet made of one u, one d, and one other quark, and breaks down for the other octets and decuplets (for example, ucb octet and decuplet). If the quarks all had the same mass, their behaviour would be called ''symmetric'', as they would all behave in the same way to the strong interaction. Since quarks do not have the same mass, they do not interact in the same way (exactly like an electron placed in an electric field will accelerate more than a proton placed in the same field because of its lighter mass), and the symmetry is said to be broken. It was noted that charge (''Q'') was related to the isospin projection (''I''3), the
baryon number In particle physics, the baryon number is a strictly conserved additive quantum number of a system. It is defined as ::B = \frac\left(n_\text - n_\bar\right), where ''n''q is the number of quarks, and ''n'' is the number of antiquarks. Baryon ...
(''B'') and flavour quantum numbers (''S'', ''C'', ''B''′, ''T'') by the
Gell-Mann–Nishijima formula The Gell-Mann–Nishijima formula (sometimes known as the NNG formula) relates the baryon number ''B'', the strangeness ''S'', the isospin ''I3'' of quarks and hadrons to the electric charge ''Q''. It was originally given by Kazuhiko Nishijima an ...
: :Q = I_3 +\frac\left(B + S + C + B^\prime + T\right), where ''S'', ''C'', ''B''′, and ''T'' represent the
strangeness In particle physics, strangeness ("''S''") is a property of particles, expressed as a quantum number, for describing decay of particles in strong and electromagnetic interactions which occur in a short period of time. The strangeness of a parti ...
,
charm Charm may refer to: Social science * Charisma, a person or thing's pronounced ability to attract others * Superficial charm, flattery, telling people what they want to hear Science and technology * Charm quark, a type of elementary particle * Ch ...
,
bottomness In physics, bottomness (symbol ''B''′ using a prime as plain ''B'' is used already for baryon number) or beauty is a flavour quantum number reflecting the difference between the number of bottom antiquarks (''n'') and the number of bottom ...
and
topness Topness (''T'', also called truth), a flavour quantum number, represents the difference between the number of top quarks (t) and number of top antiquarks () that are present in a particle: :T = n_\text - n_\bar By convention, top quarks have a ...
flavour quantum numbers, respectively. They are related to the number of strange, charm, bottom, and top quarks and antiquark according to the relations: :\begin S &= -\left(n_\mathrm - n_\mathrm\right), \\ C &= +\left(n_\mathrm - n_\mathrm\right), \\ B^\prime &= -\left(n_\mathrm - n_\mathrm\right), \\ T &= +\left(n_\mathrm - n_\mathrm\right), \end meaning that the Gell-Mann–Nishijima formula is equivalent to the expression of charge in terms of quark content: :Q = \frac\left n_\mathrm - n_\mathrm) + (n_\mathrm - n_\mathrm) + (n_\mathrm - n_\mathrm)\right- \frac\left n_\mathrm - n_\mathrm) + (n_\mathrm - n_\mathrm) + (n_\mathrm - n_\mathrm)\right


Spin, orbital angular momentum, and total angular momentum

Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thread by twisting fibers together, traditionally by hand spinning * Spin, the rotation of an object around a central axis * Spin (propaganda), an intentionally b ...
(quantum number ''S'') is a vector quantity that represents the "intrinsic"
angular momentum In physics, angular momentum (rarely, moment of momentum or rotational momentum) is the rotational analog of linear momentum. It is an important physical quantity because it is a conserved quantity—the total angular momentum of a closed syste ...
of a particle. It comes in increments of   ħ (pronounced "h-bar"). The ħ is often dropped because it is the "fundamental" unit of spin, and it is implied that "spin 1" means "spin 1 ħ". In some systems of natural units, ħ is chosen to be 1, and therefore does not appear anywhere.
Quark A quark () is a type of elementary particle and a fundamental constituent of matter. Quarks combine to form composite particles called hadrons, the most stable of which are protons and neutrons, the components of atomic nuclei. All commonly o ...
s are
fermion In particle physics, a fermion is a particle that follows Fermi–Dirac statistics. Generally, it has a half-odd-integer spin: spin , spin , etc. In addition, these particles obey the Pauli exclusion principle. Fermions include all quarks and ...
ic particles of spin (''S'' = ). Because spin projections vary in increments of 1 (that is 1 ħ), a single quark has a spin vector of length , and has two spin projections (''S''z = + and ''S''z = −). Two quarks can have their spins aligned, in which case the two spin vectors add to make a vector of length ''S'' = 1 and three spin projections (''S''z = +1, ''S''z = 0, and ''S''z = −1). If two quarks have unaligned spins, the spin vectors add up to make a vector of length ''S'' = 0 and has only one spin projection (''S''z = 0), etc. Since baryons are made of three quarks, their spin vectors can add to make a vector of length ''S'' = , which has four spin projections (''S''z = +, ''S''z = +, ''S''z = −, and ''S''z = −), or a vector of length ''S'' =  with two spin projections (''S''z = +, and ''S''z = −).R. Shankar (1994) There is another quantity of angular momentum, called the orbital angular momentum (
azimuthal quantum number The azimuthal quantum number is a quantum number for an atomic orbital that determines its orbital angular momentum and describes the shape of the orbital. The azimuthal quantum number is the second of a set of quantum numbers that describe t ...
''L''), that comes in increments of 1 ħ, which represent the angular moment due to quarks orbiting around each other. The total angular momentum ( total angular momentum quantum number ''J'') of a particle is therefore the combination of intrinsic angular momentum (spin) and orbital angular momentum. It can take any value from to , in increments of 1. Particle physicists are most interested in baryons with no orbital angular momentum (''L'' = 0), as they correspond to ground states—states of minimal energy. Therefore, the two groups of baryons most studied are the ''S'' = ; ''L'' = 0 and ''S'' = ; ''L'' = 0, which corresponds to ''J'' = + and ''J'' = +, respectively, although they are not the only ones. It is also possible to obtain ''J'' = + particles from ''S'' =  and ''L'' = 2, as well as ''S'' =  and ''L'' = 2. This phenomenon of having multiple particles in the same total angular momentum configuration is called '' degeneracy''. How to distinguish between these degenerate baryons is an active area of research in
baryon spectroscopy Hadron spectroscopy is the subfield of particle physics that studies the masses and decays of hadrons. Hadron spectroscopy is also an important part of the new nuclear physics. The properties of hadrons are a consequence of a theory called quantum c ...
.D.M. Manley (2005)


Parity

If the universe were reflected in a mirror, most of the laws of physics would be identical—things would behave the same way regardless of what we call "left" and what we call "right". This concept of mirror reflection is called " intrinsic parity" or simply "parity" (''P''). Gravity, the
electromagnetic force In physics, electromagnetism is an interaction that occurs between particles with electric charge. It is the second-strongest of the four fundamental interactions, after the strong force, and it is the dominant force in the interactions of ...
, and the
strong interaction The strong interaction or strong force is a fundamental interaction that confines quarks into proton, neutron, and other hadron particles. The strong interaction also binds neutrons and protons to create atomic nuclei, where it is called the ...
all behave in the same way regardless of whether or not the universe is reflected in a mirror, and thus are said to conserve parity (P-symmetry). However, the
weak interaction In nuclear physics and particle physics, the weak interaction, which is also often called the weak force or weak nuclear force, is one of the four known fundamental interactions, with the others being electromagnetism, the strong interaction ...
does distinguish "left" from "right", a phenomenon called
parity violation In physics, a parity transformation (also called parity inversion) is the flip in the sign of ''one'' spatial coordinate. In three dimensions, it can also refer to the simultaneous flip in the sign of all three spatial coordinates (a point refle ...
(P-violation). Based on this, if the wavefunction for each particle (in more precise terms, the
quantum field In theoretical physics, quantum field theory (QFT) is a theoretical framework that combines classical field theory, special relativity, and quantum mechanics. QFT is used in particle physics to construct physical models of subatomic particles ...
for each particle type) were simultaneously mirror-reversed, then the new set of wavefunctions would perfectly satisfy the laws of physics (apart from the weak interaction). It turns out that this is not quite true: for the equations to be satisfied, the wavefunctions of certain types of particles have to be multiplied by −1, in addition to being mirror-reversed. Such particle types are said to have negative or odd parity (''P'' = −1, or alternatively ''P'' = –), while the other particles are said to have positive or even parity (''P'' = +1, or alternatively ''P'' = +). For baryons, the parity is related to the orbital angular momentum by the relation:S.S.M. Wong (1998b) :P=(-1)^L.\ As a consequence, baryons with no orbital angular momentum (''L'' = 0) all have even parity (''P'' = +).


Nomenclature

Baryons are classified into groups according to their isospin (''I'') values and
quark A quark () is a type of elementary particle and a fundamental constituent of matter. Quarks combine to form composite particles called hadrons, the most stable of which are protons and neutrons, the components of atomic nuclei. All commonly o ...
(''q'') content. There are six groups of baryons:
nucleon In physics and chemistry, a nucleon is either a proton or a neutron, considered in its role as a component of an atomic nucleus. The number of nucleons in a nucleus defines the atom's mass number (nucleon number). Until the 1960s, nucleons were ...
(),
Delta Delta commonly refers to: * Delta (letter) (Δ or δ), a letter of the Greek alphabet * River delta, at a river mouth * D ( NATO phonetic alphabet: "Delta") * Delta Air Lines, US * Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19 Delta may also ...
(), Lambda (), Sigma (), Xi (), and
Omega Omega (; capital letter, capital: Ω, lower case, lowercase: ω; Ancient Greek ὦ, later ὦ μέγα, Modern Greek ωμέγα) is the twenty-fourth and final letter in the Greek alphabet. In the Greek numerals, Greek numeric system/isopsephy ...
(). The rules for classification are defined by the Particle Data Group. These rules consider the up (), down () and strange () quarks to be ''light'' and the
charm Charm may refer to: Social science * Charisma, a person or thing's pronounced ability to attract others * Superficial charm, flattery, telling people what they want to hear Science and technology * Charm quark, a type of elementary particle * Ch ...
(), bottom (), and
top A spinning top, or simply a top, is a toy with a squat body and a sharp point at the bottom, designed to be spun on its vertical axis, balancing on the tip due to the gyroscopic effect. Once set in motion, a top will usually wobble for a few ...
() quarks to be ''heavy''. The rules cover all the particles that can be made from three of each of the six quarks, even though baryons made of top quarks are not expected to exist because of the
top quark The top quark, sometimes also referred to as the truth quark, (symbol: t) is the most massive of all observed elementary particles. It derives its mass from its coupling to the Higgs Boson. This coupling y_ is very close to unity; in the Standard ...
's short lifetime. The rules do not cover pentaquarks.C. Amsler et al. (2008)
Naming scheme for hadrons
/ref> * Baryons with (any combination of) three and/or quarks are s (''I'' = ) or baryons (''I'' = ). * Baryons containing two and/or quarks are baryons (''I'' = 0) or baryons (''I'' = 1). If the third quark is heavy, its identity is given by a subscript. * Baryons containing one or quark are baryons (''I'' = ). One or two subscripts are used if one or both of the remaining quarks are heavy. * Baryons containing no or quarks are baryons (''I'' = 0), and subscripts indicate any heavy quark content. * Baryons that decay strongly have their masses as part of their names. For example, Σ0 does not decay strongly, but Δ++(1232) does. It is also a widespread (but not universal) practice to follow some additional rules when distinguishing between some states that would otherwise have the same symbol. * Baryons in total angular momentum ''J'' =  configuration that have the same symbols as their ''J'' =  counterparts are denoted by an asterisk ( * ). * Two baryons can be made of three different quarks in ''J'' =  configuration. In this case, a prime ( ′ ) is used to distinguish between them. ** ''Exception'': When two of the three quarks are one up and one down quark, one baryon is dubbed Λ while the other is dubbed Σ. Quarks carry a charge, so knowing the charge of a particle indirectly gives the quark content. For example, the rules above say that a contains a c quark and some combination of two u and/or d quarks. The c quark has a charge of (''Q'' = +), therefore the other two must be a u quark (''Q'' = +), and a d quark (''Q'' = −) to have the correct total charge (''Q'' = +1).


See also

* Eightfold way *
List of baryons Baryons are composite particles made of three quarks, as opposed to mesons, which are composite particles made of one quark and one antiquark. Baryons and mesons are both hadrons, which are particles composed solely of quarks or both quarks and ...
* Meson *
Timeline of particle discoveries This is a timeline of subatomic particle discoveries, including all particles thus far discovered which appear to be elementary (that is, indivisible) given the best available evidence. It also includes the discovery of composite particles and an ...


Citations


General references

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *


External links

* Particle Data Group�
Review of Particle Physics (2018).
* Georgia State University�


Baryons made thinkable
an interactive visualisation allowing physical properties to be compared {{Authority control