Visualizations of Quantum Chromodynamics

Centre for the Subatomic Structure of Matter (CSSM), Department of Physics, University of Adelaide, 5005 Australia
Copyright © 2003 − 2014

• This page supports our manuscript entitled

  Lattice QCD Evidence that the Λ(1405) Resonance is an Antikaon-Nucleon Molecule

  published in Physical Review Letters as an Editors' Suggestion Featured in Physics.
• An artist's rendition of the structure of the Lambda 1405 baryon resonance. The energy density of a typical gluon field fluctuation found in the QCD vacuum is illustrated. Its lumpy structure, representative of the underlying instanton-like field configurations, attract the quarks of the Lambda 1405. Here the up, down and strange (u, d and s) valence quarks of the Lambda 1405 are complemented by an up−anti-up (u − u-bar) quark pair. A flux tube between the s and anti-u quarks indicates the formation of a K ⁻ meson while the remaining quarks (u, u, d ) are bound to a proton with the Y-shape flux tube. Together, these form the molecular bound state of the Lambda 1405. An electron (solid line) scatters off the strange quark through the exchange of a photon (wavy line), providing information on the strange magnetic form factor of the Lambda 1405.

• A high quality image is also available:
  • Structure of the Lambda 1405 (4096 by 3072 png file: 3.9 MB)

• Additional visualizations of Quantun Chromodynamics (QCD) including those featured in Prof Frank Wilczek's 2004 Nobel Prize acceptance speech are available on the Visualizations of Quantum Chromodynamics page.