quarkides

Quarkides are a hypothetical class of exotic hadrons that contain at least one valence quark and at least one valence antiquark that are not a quark-antiquark pair. Unlike conventional mesons, which are composed of a quark and its corresponding antiquark, quarkides are theorized to possess a more complex internal structure. This could include configurations like a quark-diquark system or a multiquark state with an unusual quark composition.

The study of quarkides is an area of ongoing theoretical research within particle physics. If they exist, they would provide valuable insights into the strong nuclear force and the fundamental nature of quantum chromodynamics (QCD). Their existence would challenge current models of hadron spectroscopy, which primarily categorize particles into mesons and baryons based on their quark content. Experimental searches for quarkides are challenging, as they would likely have specific decay signatures that need to be carefully distinguished from known particles. Theoretical predictions suggest that quarkides might be observed as resonances in particle collision experiments, potentially with unusual mass or decay properties. Further theoretical development and high-precision experimental data are needed to confirm or refute the existence of quarkides.