gluon
noun
glu·on
| \ ˈglü-ˌän
\
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Definition of gluon
: a hypothetical neutral massless particle held to bind together quarks to form hadrons
Examples of gluon in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Each proton and neutron is made up of even tinier quarks and gluons. — Nandita Jayaraj, Quartz India, "Meet Indumathi, the Indian scientist who wants to capture one of the universe’s smallest particles," 27 Aug. 2019 Bosons include photons, the particles of light and the force carriers of electromagnetism, and gluons, the particles that convey the strong force. — Philip Ball, Scientific American, "Supergravity Snags Super Award: $3-Million Special Breakthrough Prize," 6 Aug. 2019 Some theorists argue that the new particles are bags of four and five quarks, bound together through the exchange of quantum particles called gluons, adding a new wrinkle to the often intractable theory of the strong force. — Adrian Cho, Science | AAAS, "Exotic particles called pentaquarks may be less weird than previously thought," 5 June 2019 Quark-gluon plasma: A state in which protons and neutrons dissolve into their constituent quarks, which can move freely among particles called gluons that carry the strong force. — Adam Mann, National Geographic, "Confirmed: New phase of matter is solid and liquid at the same time," 8 Apr. 2019 The building blocks of atoms, protons and neutrons, are composed of a collection of particles called quarks and gluons. — John Timmer, Ars Technica, "Atoms may come apart as the Universe’s biggest stars explode," 24 Oct. 2018 But there’s much more—protons and neutrons are made up of quarks held together by gluons, one of several types of boson. — Jason Daley, Smithsonian, "The Large Hadron Collider Is Getting A Huge Power Boost," 19 June 2018 Then there are dozens of particles made up of those elementary particles, including hadrons, which are constructed of quarks and gluons, and mesons, made of a quark and anti-quark. — Jason Daley, Smithsonian, "The Large Hadron Collider Is Getting A Huge Power Boost," 19 June 2018 Protons and neutrons are familiar as tiny solids, but particle accelerators can melt them into what’s called a quark-gluon plasma, or QGP. — Sylvia Morrow, Discover Magazine, "The Fastest Fluid," 1 Feb. 2018These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'gluon.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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