Potential energy in strong- and weak- nuclear interaction

In summary, the Schrödinger equation for a system of N particles is given by:U_System Potential Energy(r_1,r_2,r_3,...,r_n,t)-\sum_{n=1}^{n_{max}}(\sum_{d=0}^{d_{max}}(\frac{d^2Ψ(r_1,r_2,r_3,...,r_n,t)}{dx_n^2})*\frac{ħ^2}{m_n})=i*ħ \frac{dΨ(r_1,r_2,r_3,...,r_n,t)}{dt}, where the potential energy includes contributions from both weak and strong nuclear interactions. There is no
  • #1
olgerm
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Schrödinger equation for N-particles is:
[itex]U_{System Potential Energy}(r_1,r_2,r_3,...,r_n,t)-\sum_{n=1}^{n_{max}}(\sum_{d=0}^{d_{max}}(\frac{d^2Ψ(r_1,r_2,r_3,...,r_n,t)}{dx_n^2})*\frac{ħ^2}{m_n})=i*ħ \frac{dΨ(r_1,r_2,r_3,...,r_n,t)}{dt}[/itex]
Where [itex]\sum_{d=0}^{d_{max}}[/itex] is summation over dimensions.
Where [itex]\sum_{n=1}^{n_{max}}[/itex] is summation over particles.

1.Which formula is used to calculate U_System Potential Energy(r_1,r_2,r_3,...,r_n,t) energy if we also consider weak nuclear and strong nuclear interaction?
2.Is there any potential between 2 particles with different color charges?
3.Is there any potential between 2 or more particles with same color charges?
4.Which is U_System Potential Energy(r_1,r_2,r_3,...,r_n,t) for particle system:
a) One green Up-quark and one blue Down-quark?
b) Two blue Up-quark?
c) One red Down-quark ,one green Up-quark and one blue Down-quark?
d) One blue Up-quark and one green Charm-quark?
 
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  • #2
For the strong force, there isn't really good potential function that is analogous to the Coulomb potential for electrodynamics. Because of confinement, asymptotic states have no net color charge. Basically, if you had some sort of subatomic tweezers that would allow you to pull at a quark inside a proton, instead of pulling out an isolated quark, you would have to do enough work to produce a quark-antiquark pair. You'd end up with another proton and something like a pion.

For heavy enough quarks, one can try to study the bound state problem using an approximate potential, called the Cornell potential

$$ U(r) = - \frac{a}{r} + b r. $$

The first term is like the Coulomb potential, while the 2nd term is a linear potential that mimics the confinement of the quarks. Because of this linear term, we won't find solutions where the average separation between the quarks is arbitrarily large.

At much lower energies, the strong interaction can be effectively described as a theory where mesons are exchanged between hadrons. Then the potential is of Yukawa type

$$U(r) = g^2 \frac{ e^ {-m_\pi r}}{r},$$

which is valid for distances ## r\gg 1/m_\pi##.

The weak interaction at low-energies is also of Yukawa type where now ##m_W##, the mass of the W-boson appears in the exponent, since it is a theory of exchange of virtual W and Z particles.
 
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  • #3
fzero said:
For heavy enough quarks, one can try to study the bound state problem using an approximate potential, called the Cornell potential

$$ U(r) = - \frac{a}{r} + b r. $$
Is r distance between two quarks,which have different color charges an U(r) potential between those quarks?
what are values of a and b?
 
  • #4
olgerm said:
Is r distance between two quarks,which have different color charges an U(r) potential between those quarks?
what are values of a and b?

Yes, ##r## is the interquark distance and the color charges will be different because the hadrons are color singlets. The Coulomb term corresponds to a single gluon exchange and the value of ##a## I see quoted in the literature is ##a = 4 \alpha_s/3##, where ##\alpha_s## is the running QCD coupling constant. The value of ##b## is called the QCD string tension, which can be computed approximately in a couple of ways. I've found a quoted value of ##b\sim 0.87~\text{GeV/fm}##.

I should stress that this is a very approximate description of quark-quark interactions. There are various refinements in the literature, which you can search for under the name NRQCD, for Non-Relativistic QCD or the term quarkonia, which is the name used to refer primarily to bound states of charm-anticharm and bottom-antibottom.
 

1. What is potential energy in strong- and weak- nuclear interaction?

Potential energy in strong- and weak- nuclear interaction refers to the amount of energy stored within the particles that make up an atomic nucleus. This energy is a result of the strong and weak nuclear forces that hold these particles together.

2. How does potential energy affect the stability of an atomic nucleus?

The amount of potential energy in an atomic nucleus directly affects its stability. The stronger the nuclear forces, the more potential energy is required to break apart the nucleus. This means that nuclei with higher potential energy are more stable.

3. What is the relationship between potential energy and the mass of an atomic nucleus?

Potential energy and mass are directly related in an atomic nucleus. As the potential energy increases, so does the mass of the nucleus. This is because potential energy is a form of energy and, according to Einstein's famous equation E=mc², energy and mass are equivalent.

4. How do strong and weak nuclear interactions contribute to potential energy?

The strong nuclear force, which is responsible for holding protons and neutrons together in the nucleus, contributes to the potential energy by creating a strong potential well. This means that a large amount of energy is required to break apart the nucleus. The weak nuclear force, which is responsible for radioactive decay, also contributes to the potential energy by changing the number of particles in the nucleus, altering its stability and potential energy.

5. Can potential energy be converted into other forms of energy in nuclear interactions?

Yes, potential energy in nuclear interactions can be converted into other forms of energy. This is demonstrated in nuclear reactions, where a small amount of mass is converted into a large amount of energy. It is also seen in radioactive decay, where the potential energy of an unstable nucleus is converted into kinetic energy as it decays into a more stable state.

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