7.4 Strong Force

The strong force is what keeps nuclei together. It is described by a theory called QCD, which described the forces between fermions called quarks that make up the hadrons. These forces are mediated by spin-1 bosons called gluons. Notice that this is a case where a series in powers of the coupling constant does not make a lot of sense, since higher powers have about the same value as lower powers. Such a theory is called non-perturbative.

This work is a UK OER project as part of the Skills for Scientists project. Please contact Niels Walet for more information

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.0 Generic License