A key facet of a proton\u2019s identity can be traced to the glue that holds it together.<\/p>\n
A new study suggests that a property called the baryon number \u2014 a defining characteristic of protons and related particles \u2014 resides with the gluey particles inside. These particles, called gluons, carry the forces that bind the proton\u2019s smaller matter particles together.<\/p>\n
Scientists assumed that these matter particles, called quarks, carry the baryon number. But some physicists have argued that gluons could be the seat of baryon number, specifically a Y-shaped gluon structure that forms in the center of a proton. In collisions of atomic nuclei slamming together at nearly the speed of light, the types and angles of particles that spewed outward matched the gluon picture better than the quark one, researchers from the STAR collaboration report in the Aug. 13 Science<\/em>.<\/p>\n