antiquark

noun

an·​ti·​quark
ˈan-tē-ˌkwärk,
ˈan-ˌtī- How to pronounce antiquark (audio)
: the antiparticle of the quark

Examples of antiquark in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Separate a quark from its antiquark, and a string forms between them that pulls them back together. Kevin Hartnett, Quanta Magazine, 18 Apr. 2023 Specifically, a photon with sufficient energy can be converted into what's called a J/ψ meson, composed of a charm quark and charm antiquark through a process that's sensitive to the configuration of gluons in any nearby protons. John Timmer, Ars Technica, 3 Apr. 2023 The smaller bits making up protons, neutrons and SIMPs are called quarks, but in the SIMP’s case, they would be individually composed of a quark paired with a hypothetical antiquark, which primarily goes about its business in the dark sector beyond the standard model. Adam Hadhazy, Discover Magazine, 15 Nov. 2019 Quark-antiquark pairs are constantly popping in and out of existence, and gluons tend to split and multiply, especially when a proton gains speed. Clara Moskowitz, Scientific American, 14 Feb. 2023 To test the new hypothesis, the Brookhaven scientists plan to re-create their experiment with a different meson, called the J/psi meson, which is made of a quark-antiquark pair of a different favor. Allison Parshall, Scientific American, 2 Feb. 2023 Unlike protons and neutrons, which are made of three quarks, mesons are made of one quark and one antiquark. Allison Parshall, Scientific American, 2 Feb. 2023 With this energy, a gluon splits into a quark and an antiquark — each carrying just a tiny bit of momentum — before the pair annihilates and disappears. Quanta Magazine, 19 Oct. 2022 At the dawn of the universe, for every particle of matter, such as an electron, there was an anti-electron; for every quark (a fundamental constituent of matter), there was an antiquark, explains physicist Chang Kee Jung of Stony Brook University. Dolly Setton, Discover Magazine, 30 July 2014

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'antiquark.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1964, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of antiquark was in 1964

Dictionary Entries Near antiquark

Cite this Entry

“Antiquark.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/antiquark. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

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