Hadron: Definition, Types and Significance
Hadrons are subatomic particles composed of quarks and held together by the strong nuclear force. The most well-known hadrons are protons and neutrons.
Things worth knowing about "Hadron"
Hadrons are subatomic particles composed of quarks and held together by the strong nuclear force. The most well-known hadrons are protons and neutrons.
What Are Hadrons?
Hadrons are a class of subatomic particles made up of elementary building blocks of matter called quarks. They are held together by the strong interaction (also known as the strong nuclear force), one of the four fundamental forces of nature. The term derives from the Greek word hadrós, meaning strong or massive.
Classification of Hadrons
Hadrons are divided into two main groups:
- Baryons: Particles composed of three quarks. The most familiar baryons are the proton (positively charged) and the neutron (electrically neutral), which together form the atomic nucleus.
- Mesons: Particles made up of one quark and one antiquark. Mesons are unstable and decay rapidly into other particles.
Quarks as Fundamental Building Blocks
Quarks are the fundamental constituents of all hadrons. There are six types of quarks, known as flavours: up, down, strange, charm, bottom, and top. For example, protons consist of two up quarks and one down quark, while neutrons are composed of two down quarks and one up quark. Quarks carry a property called color charge and are bound together by particles called gluons.
The Strong Interaction
The strong interaction is the force that holds quarks together within a hadron. It is mediated by exchange particles called gluons. A key feature of this force is confinement: quarks are never found in isolation in nature, but always exist in bound states within hadrons.
Relevance in Physics and Medicine
Hadrons are important not only in fundamental physics but also have direct medical applications. In hadron therapy (also called particle therapy), hadrons -- particularly protons and carbon ions -- are used to precisely irradiate tumors. Compared to conventional radiation therapy, hadron therapy allows for more targeted dose delivery to tumor tissue while sparing the surrounding healthy tissue.
Hadrons in Particle Accelerators
Large particle accelerators such as the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN in Geneva accelerate hadrons -- typically protons -- to nearly the speed of light and collide them. These experiments led to the discovery of the Higgs boson in 2012 and continue to provide critical insights into the structure of matter.
References
- Griffiths, D. - Introduction to Elementary Particles. Wiley-VCH, 2nd edition (2008).
- CERN - The Large Hadron Collider. Available at: https://home.cern/science/accelerators/large-hadron-collider (accessed 2024).
- Durante, M. & Loeffler, J.S. - Charged particles in radiation oncology. Nature Reviews Clinical Oncology, 7(1), 37-43 (2010).
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