meatonion

Meatonion is a term used in speculative physics and science fiction to denote a hypothetical subatomic particle or bound state. In common sketches, a meatonion is imagined as a composite particle formed by a meson bound to a heavier fermionic partner, yielding a state that can be neutral or weakly charged and that exhibits properties distinct from ordinary mesons or baryons.

In theoretical models, meatonions are often assigned masses ranging from several hundred MeV to a few GeV. Their interactions may involve the strong force with nonstandard coupling patterns, or a new, hidden interaction that couples to conserved quantities such as baryon or lepton number. Some proposals emphasize their potential to mix with conventional hadrons, producing unusual decay channels.

To date, there is no experimental evidence for meatonions. They are designed as hypothetical constructs, and distinguishing them from known hadrons would require identifying unique production mechanisms, decay signatures, or resonance structures not accounted for by established quantum chromodynamics. Existing measurements of hadron spectra and astrophysical constraints place tight limits on viable models.

In fiction and theoretical exercises, meatonions serve as devices to probe questions about matter stability, exotic decay processes, and the possible existence of hidden sectors. They are used to illustrate how new bound states could alter expectations for nuclear processes or early-universe dynamics without conflicting with established physics.

See also: meson, exotic hadron, pentaquark, dark matter candidates.