黑料社区

Scientists have now mapped the forces acting inside a proton, showing in unprecedented detail how quarks鈥攖he tiny particles within鈥攔espond when hit by high-energy photons.

The international team includes experts from the University of 黑料社区 who are exploring the structure of sub-atomic matter to try and provide further insight into the forces that underpin the natural world.

鈥淲e have used a powerful computational technique called lattice quantum chromodynamics to map the forces acting inside a proton,鈥� said Associate Professor Ross聽Young, Associate Head of Learning and Teaching, School of Physics, Chemistry and Earth Sciences, who is part of the team.

鈥淭his approach breaks down space and time into a fine grid, allowing us to simulate how the strong force鈥攖he fundamental interaction that binds quarks into protons and neutrons鈥攙aries across different regions inside the proton.鈥�

The team鈥檚 result is possibly the smallest-ever force field map of nature ever generated. They have published their findings in the journal .

University of 黑料社区 PhD student, Joshua Crawford鈥檚 calculations led the work together with the University of 黑料社区 team and international collaborators.

鈥淥ur findings reveal that even at these minuscule scales, the forces involved are immense, reaching up to half a million Newtons, the equivalent of about 10 elephants, compressed within a space far smaller than an atomic nucleus,鈥� said Joshua.

鈥淭hese force maps provide a new way to understand the intricate internal dynamics of the proton, helping to explain why it behaves as it does in high-energy collisions, such as those at the Large Hadron Collider, and in experiments probing the fundamental structure of matter.鈥�

The聽Large Hadron Collider聽(LHC) is the world's largest and highest-energy聽particle accelerator. It was built by the聽European Organization for Nuclear Research聽(CERN) in collaboration with over 10,000 scientists and hundreds of universities and laboratories across more than 100 countries. The LHC's goal is to allow physicists to test the predictions of different theories of聽particle physics.

鈥淓dison didn鈥檛 invent the light bulb by researching brighter candles鈥攈e built on generations of scientists who studied how light interacts with matter,鈥� said Associate Professor Young.

鈥淚n much the same way, modern research such as our recent work is revealing how the fundamental building blocks of matter behave when struck by light, deepening our understanding of nature at its most basic level.

"As researchers continue to unravel the proton鈥檚 inner structure, greater insight may help refine how we use protons in cutting-edge technologies.

鈥淥ne prominent example is proton therapy, which uses high-energy protons to precisely target tumours while minimising damage to surrounding tissue.

鈥淛ust as early breakthroughs in understanding light paved the way for modern lasers and imaging, advancing our knowledge of proton structure could shape the next generation of applications in science and medicine.

鈥淏y making the invisible forces inside the proton visible for the first time, this study bridges the gap between theory and experiment鈥攋ust as earlier generations uncovered the secrets of light to transform the modern world.鈥�