Boundary between Hadron and Quark/Gluon Structure of Nuclei

TL;DR

This paper explores how the boundary between hadronic and quark-gluon nuclear structures can be blurred by multi-nucleon quark clusters formed through color percolation, supported by various experimental evidence.

Contribution

It introduces the concept that color percolation can cause a blurred boundary between hadron and quark-gluon nuclear regions, supported by recent experimental data.

Findings

Evidence of partial percolation in cold nuclei

Full percolation observed in hot/dense nuclear matter

Implications for nuclear structure models

Abstract

We show that the boundary between quark-dominated and hadron-dominated regions of nuclear structure may be blurred by multi-nucleon quark clusters arising from color percolation. Recent experiments supporting partial percolation in cold nuclei and full percolation in hot/dense nuclear matter include: deep inelastic lepton-nucleus scattering, relativistic heavy-ion collisions and the binding energy in $^5 He_{\Lambda}$.