strangelet
Sign in to saveA strangelet (pronounced ) is a hypothetical particle consisting of a bound state of roughly equal numbers of up, down, and strange quarks. An equivalent description is that a strangelet is a small fragment of strange matter, small enough to be considered a particle. The size of an object composed of strange matter could, theoretically, range from a few femtometers across (with the mass of a light nucleus) to arbitrarily large. Once the size becomes macroscopic (on the order of meters across), such an object is usually called a strange star. The term "strangelet" originates with Edward Farhi a
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Article
16 sectionsContents
- Theoretical possibility
- Strange matter hypothesis
- Relationship with nuclei
- Size
- Natural or artificial occurrence
- Accelerator production
- Space-based detection
- Possible seismic detection
- Impacts on Solar System bodies
- Potential propagation
- Debate about the strange matter hypothesis
- In fiction
- See also
- Further reading
- References
- External links
A strangelet (pronounced ) is a hypothetical particle consisting of a bound state of roughly equal numbers of up, down, and strange quarks. An equivalent description is that a strangelet is a small fragment of strange matter, small enough to be considered a particle. The size of an object composed of strange matter could, theoretically, range from a few femtometers across (with the mass of a light nucleus) to arbitrarily large. Once the size becomes macroscopic (on the order of meters across), such an object is usually called a strange star. The term "strangelet" originates with Edward Farhi and Robert Jaffe in 1984. It has been theorized that strangelets can convert matter to strange matter on contact. Strangelets have also been suggested as a dark matter candidate.
== Theoretical possibility ==