The Complex Structure of Gluons

• The gluon structure of the QCD vacuum is very rich and complex.

• The short-lived instantons, displayed here by their localized energy, act to bind low-energy quarks to their locations.

• Quarks are thought to hop from instanton to instanton as they fluctuate in and out of the vacuum.

• It is this interaction between quarks and gluons that gives rise to the mass of protons and neutrons and thus most of the world around us.

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