Scientists have calculated the trace anomaly for nucleons and pions, revealing insights into how mass is distributed in hadrons, such as protons and neutrons. This research, published in Physical Review D, uses lattice quantum chromodynamics to simulate mass distribution, showing similarities between the pion's mass and the neutron's charge distribution, and the nucleon's mass and the proton's charge distribution. These findings are crucial for understanding the nucleon mass and will guide future experiments at the Electron-Ion Collider to explore the inner structure of protons.
Scientists have made progress in understanding the transition from quark-gluon plasma (QGP) to hadrons, a process that occurs when heavy nuclei collide in laboratory experiments. By applying the maximum entropy principle, researchers can better interpret the data from these collisions, potentially identifying a critical point in the phase diagram of quantum chromodynamics (QCD). This new approach helps translate the fluctuations observed in QGP into the fluctuations of hadron multiplicities, which is essential for mapping the QCD phase diagram and understanding the strong interactions between quarks. The research, supported by the Department of Energy, offers a more accurate method for analyzing experimental results from facilities like the Relativistic Heavy-Ion Collider (RHIC).
