quarkhelds

Quarkhelds are hypothetical composite particles proposed in certain speculative frameworks of quantum chromodynamics. They are a class of exotic hadrons envisioned as bound states that include a heavy quark–antiquark pair together with additional light quark content, producing a color-neutral object with properties distinct from conventional mesons and baryons. The name reflects their proposed structure as “held” together by the strong force between a heavy quark core and a surrounding light-quark cloud or diquark.

In general, quarkhelds are discussed in two broad forms. One option treats them as a hybrid-like bound state where a quarkonium core (a heavy quark and its antiquark) is bound to a light diquark or meson cloud. A second option envisions a compact tetraquark arrangement with a heavy quark pair and two light quarks, arranged to minimize color repulsion. Theoretical approaches include diquark models, potential models with modified confining potentials, and lattice-QCD-inspired analyses. Predicted features include relatively large masses compared with ordinary light-hadron scales, a spectrum of quantum numbers allowing both positive and negative parity, and decay patterns that may proceed through both strong and weak interactions.

Experimentally, quarkhelds remain speculative and no confirmed observation exists as of now. High-energy colliders and dedicated flavor factories search for unusual resonances in heavy-quark channels, with particular attention to narrow states that decay into conventional quarkonia plus light hadrons or photons. Confirmation would require robust signals across independent experiments and decay modes.

See also: exotic hadrons, tetraquarks, pentaquarks, heavy quarkonia, diquark models.