STAR presents evidence that baryon number is carried by baryon junctions — Nature

The STAR Collaboration has presented results that Nature calls the most compelling experimental evidence that the baryon number of protons and neutrons is carried not by quarks themselves, but by structures known as baryon junctions. The collaboration’s work was published in the journal Science.

What baryon number is

Baryon number is a quantity assigned to protons and neutrons. Both types of particles belong to baryons and consist of three fundamental particles — quarks.

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According to Nature, baryon junctions bind quarks together and mediate the force between them. STAR’s results indicate that such structures, rather than quarks, are the carriers of baryon number.

Research context

Nature notes that in the early Universe, violations of many laws that operate today made it possible for an imbalance between visible matter and antimatter to arise. These laws include the conservation of baryon number. The new STAR data are the strongest experimental evidence in favor of the role of baryon junctions in carrying this quantity.