Gluons鈥 Density Isn鈥檛 the Same in Bound vs Unbound Protons and Neutrons
Department of Energy, Office of ScienceNuclear physicists recently used photons emitted by an accelerated gold nucleus to probe the inner structure of the protons and neutrons (nucleons) in another gold nucleus to measure the resulting density of gluons. The research found that nucleons bound in a nucleus have lower gluon density than free, unbound nucleons.