The strong interaction as a research area encompasses theoretical and experimental studies of the fundamental force described by quantum chromodynamics (QCD), which governs the dynamics of quarks and gluons and the structure of hadrons and nuclei. It includes investigations of color confinement, asymptotic freedom, chiral symmetry breaking, and the phase structure of strongly interacting matter, such as the quark–gluon plasma. Methodologically, it spans perturbative QCD at high energies, lattice QCD and effective field theories at low energies, and phenomenology in high-energy collider, fixed-target, and heavy-ion experiments to test and refine the Standard Model’s strong sector.
Just after 9 a.m. on Friday, Feb. 6, 2026, final beams of oxygen ions—oxygen atoms stripped of their electrons—circulated through the twin 2.4-mile-circumference rings of the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) and crashed ...
General Physics
Feb 9, 2026
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In a breakthrough that could power next-generation electronics, sensors, and energy storage devices, CMU engineers have developed a fabrication technique that arranges MXene nanosheets, each a million times thinner than a ...
Nanomaterials
Jan 29, 2026
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Axions are hypothetical light particles that could solve two different physics problems, as they could explain why some nuclear interactions don't violate time symmetry and are also promising dark matter candidates. Dark ...
SUNY Poly Professor of Physics Dr. Amir Fariborz recently published a paper in Physical Review D titled "Spinless glueballs in generalized linear sigma model." The work takes on a central challenge in modern physics: understanding ...
General Physics
Dec 3, 2025
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Deep in the heart of the matter, some numbers don't add up. For example, while protons and neutrons are made of quarks, nature's fundamental building blocks bound together by gluons, their masses are much larger than the ...
General Physics
Nov 18, 2025
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The small but ubiquitous proton serves as a foundation for the bulk of the visible matter in the universe. It abides at the very heart of matter, giving rise to everything we see around us as it anchors the nuclei of atoms. ...
General Physics
Sep 11, 2025
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With the help of innovative large-scale simulations on various supercomputers, physicists at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) have succeeded in gaining new insights into previously elusive aspects of the physics ...
General Physics
Aug 22, 2025
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Baryons, composite particles made up of three quarks bound together via the so-called strong force, make up the most visible matter and have thus been the focus of numerous physics studies. Studying the rare processes via ...
Though atomic nuclei are often depicted as static clusters of protons and neutrons (nucleons), the particles are actually bustling with movement. Thus, the nucleons carry a range of momenta. Sometimes, these nucleons may ...
General Physics
Jul 31, 2025
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A rather unassuming particle is playing an important role in the hunt for subatomic oddities. Similar to protons and neutrons, mesons are composed of quarks bound together by the strong nuclear force. But these short-lived ...
General Physics
Jul 18, 2025
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