gluon

noun

glu·on ˈglü-ˌän

: a hypothetical neutral massless particle held to bind together quarks to form hadrons

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web The proton is a collection of quarks and gluons moving at relativistic speeds around a central point. —

John Timmer, Ars Technica, 3 Apr. 2023 According to the standard model of particle physics, every proton and neutron consists of three quarks, which are held together by gluons. —

Rachel Courtland, IEEE Spectrum, 1 May 2014 The gluons then connect protons with neutrons to form a nucleus. —

Popular Mechanics, 31 Mar. 2023 Like a physics version of the periodic table, it’s laid out as a chart of all the particles known in nature: the subatomic ones making up matter, like quarks and electrons, and those that carry or mediate forces, like gluons and photons. —

Katrina Miller, WIRED, 13 Mar. 2023 This is surprising because the theory that describes how quarks and gluons interact—quantum chromodynamics—could easily violate these symmetries. —

Rachel Courtland, IEEE Spectrum, 1 May 2014 After the November Revolution, with the third generation of quarks and leptons established, the Standard Model took solid form: there soon followed the discovery of the bottom quark at Fermilab in 1977, the gluon at DESY in Hamburg in 1979, and the W and Z bosons at CERN in 1982. —

John Conway, Discover Magazine, 18 June 2011 Scientists haven't been able to find this quark-gluon plasma, until now. —

Tim Newcomb, Popular Mechanics, 22 Feb. 2023 In April 2023 Brookhaven scientists will turn on the latest experiment designed to study quark-gluon plasma. —

Clara Moskowitz, Scientific American, 14 Feb. 2023 See More

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