On Sat, Apr 27, 2013 at 12:40 AM, Eric Walker <[email protected]> wrote: > > > A diproton is something to think about. It gives rise to or is indirectly > related to the following novice questions: > > In 3He, which is stable, electrostatic repulsion is felt between two > nucleons, and the strong interaction is felt equally between all nucleons. > In deuterium, which is stable, there is no electrostatic repulsion, and the > strong interaction is felt equally between both nucleons. In a diproton, > which is unstable, there is electrostatic repulsion, and presumably the > strong interaction is in affect to the same extent as between the nucleons > in a deuterium atom. Is the lack of stability of the diproton due to a > slight imbalance between electrostatic repulsion and the residual strong > force, or is it due to the combination of valence quarks between the two > nucleons not being quite right?
I have been thinking about the same issue and the answer depends on whether one looks inward or outward for the cause of the diproton's "instability". The standard model approach imagines instability as resulting from a hypothetical internal mechanism. However, it is also possible to treat instability as a function of context. For example in the a relatively hot environment like the sun, we can imagine a diproton quickly breaking apart but enduring much longer in a relatively cold environment. >From the context we can surmise the diproton bond has the quality of being strong and fragile at the same time. The bond is strong enough to resist the mutual repulsion of the protons, but it also fragile enough to be susceptible to external shocks. Harry
