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Glite Dictionary
parton

parton

1 9.9
A small particle inside protons and neutrons, like a quark and a gluon
  • noun
  • /ˈpɑːrtən/
  • Specialized
: partón
  • In high-energy physics, a parton can refer to either a quark or a gluon that constitutes a proton or neutron.
  • scattered partons
  • parton collision
  • parton substructure in hadrons

He said just think of it as a swarm of partons moving real fast.

Examples

  • The energy is high enough to produce the direct high-energy scattering of individual quarks and gluons (the so-called partons) in the colliding nuclei.

    Academic text (2003)

  • The observation of hard-scattering processes in p-p collisions was one of the early, compelling arguments for the existence of a parton substructure in hadrons.

    Academic text (2003)

  • At RHIC, the scattered parton is embedded in a large volume of newly formed hot, dense matter.

    Academic text (2003)

  • In effect, such measurements probe the medium with beams of energetic partons.

    Academic text (2003)

  • The direction of the jet emerging from a hard-scattering collision is presumed to be the direction of the initially scattered parton.

    Academic text (2003)

  • Scientists study the interactions of partons to understand the strong force that holds atomic nuclei together.

  • During the experiment, researchers measured the behavior of the partons in the colliding particles.

Surface Forms

parton singular
partons plural

Morphology

parton = part (semi-transparent) = part + on

Formed from 'part' + the particle-forming suffix '-on' by analogy with terms like 'proton'; the suffix is technical and may be unfamiliar to general learners.

Etymology

Parton comes from the simple word part ('a piece') plus the particle ending -on, like in electron and proton. So a parton is literally a 'small part' inside a proton or neutron, which helps you remember it means the tiny particles such as quarks and gluons that make up those bigger particles.