The electric form factor describes the spatial distribution of the quarks inside the proton by mapping the charge that the quarks carry. That information is locked inside a quantity that scientists refer to as the proton's electric form factor. The puzzle comes from experiments that aimed to determine how quarks, the building blocks of the proton, are arranged inside that particle. Now, experimenters at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility in Newport News, Va., have found hints that a single quark can briefly hog most of the energy residing in a neutron, yet spin in the direction opposite to that of the neutron itself, says Science News. The quarks, in essence, spin like tops, as do the neutrons and protons themselves. The vexing findings pertain to quarks, which are the main components of neutrons and protons. Physicists peering inside the neutron are seeing glimmers of what appears to be an impossible situation. Lattice QCD gives the same results as the diffraction patterns of the electromagnetic oscillators, explaining the color confinement and the asymptotic freedom of the Strong Interactions. Taking into account the Planck Distribution Law of the electromagnetic oscillators, we can explain the electron/proton mass rate and the Weak and Strong Interactions. Exotic Mesons and Hadrons are high energy states of Quark oscillations.

Scientists are now performing experiments to show that the structure of protons can change inside the nucleus under certain conditions. A team of physicists suggested that the fundamental building unit proton can alter its structure under certain circumstances. Particle physics experiments conducted at the CERN, DESY, JLab, RHIC, and SLAC laboratories have revealed that only about 30% of the proton’s spin is carried by the spin of its quark constituents. He and his colleagues recently carried out the first complex calculations of a particle called the sigma. Department of Energy's (DOE) Jefferson Lab and an assistant professor of physics at William & Mary. Jozef Dudek is a staff scientist at the U.S. Particle physics experiments conducted at the CERN, DESY, JLab, RHIC, and SLAC laboratories have revealed that only about 30% of the proton's spin is carried by the spin of its quark constituents. Quarks are elementary particles that scientists have not been able to break down into smaller parts. Researchers first thought that each proton consisted entirely of only three quarks, which together determined the spin.

Sign up for proton email