Color charge

In particle physics, color charge is a property of quarks and gluons which are related to their strong interactions in the context of quantum chromodynamics (QCD). This has analogies with the notion of electric charge of particles, but because of the mathematical complications of QCD, there are many technical differences. The "color" of quarks and gluons have nothing to do with the visual perception of color, but is a whimsical name for a property which has almost no manifestation at distances above the size of an atomic nucleus.

Related Topics:
Particle physics - Quark - Gluon - Strong interaction - Quantum chromodynamics - Electric charge - Atomic nucleus

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Shortly after the existence of quarks was first proposed in 1964, Oscar W. Greenberg introduced the notion of color charge to explain how quarks could coexist inside some hadrons in otherwise identical states and still satisfy the Pauli exclusion principle. The concept turned out to be useful. Quantum chromodynamics has been under development since the 1970s and constitutes an important ingredient in the standard model of particle physics.

Related Topics:
Oscar W. Greenberg - Hadron - Otherwise identical states - Pauli exclusion principle - Standard model

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