No Radial Excitations in Low Energy QCD. II. The Shrinking Radius of Hadrons

TL;DR

This paper establishes three fundamental laws about hadron sizes in low-energy QCD, showing they have no radial excitations, are largest in ground state, and shrink with increased orbital excitation, linking confinement to asymptotic freedom.

Contribution

It introduces new laws governing hadron sizes in low-energy QCD, providing a novel understanding of hadron structure and the transition from confinement to asymptotic freedom.

Findings

No radial excitations in low-energy QCD

Hadron size is largest in ground state

Hadron size decreases with orbital excitation

Abstract

We discuss the implications of our prior results obtained in our companion paper [arXiv:0910.2229]. Inescapably, they lead to three laws governing the size of hadrons, including in particular protons and neutrons that make up the bulk of ordinary matter: a) there are no radial excitations in low-energy QCD; b) the size of a hadron is largest in its ground state; c) the hadron's size shrinks when its orbital excitation increases. The second and third laws follow from the first law. It follows that the path from confinement to asymptotic freedom is a Regge trajectory. It also follows that the top quark is a free, albeit short-lived, quark. [For Note Added regarding experimental support, including the experiments studying muonic hydrogen, and other experiments, see last page.]