Just as people behave differently as couples than as individuals, protons and neutrons (also known as nucleons) inside the nucleus of the atom behave differently in pairs. Just as people behave ...

If you hit an atom’s nucleus hard enough, it will fall apart. But exactly how it falls apart tells us something about the internal structure of the nucleus and perhaps about the interior of neutron ...

Normally, we think of building blocks as static objects. For instance, the brick and mortar used to build the local bank remain pretty much the same from the day it's built to the day it's torn down.

Protons in neutron-rich nuclei have a higher average energy than previously thought, according to a new analysis of electron scattering data that was first collected in 2004. The research appears to ...

For the first time, quarks and gluons were used to describe properties of atomic nuclei, which until now had been explained by the existence of protons and neutrons. The temporary pair of correlated ...

It’s a knockout Illustration of how close pairing was studied. A high-energy electron (purple) scatters from a nucleus by emitting a virtual photon (purple). The photon goes on to knock out a proton ...

Protons and neutrons, which are collectively known as nucleons, are the building blocks of atomic nuclei and account for more than 99% of the visible matter in the Universe. They are not themselves ...

Just as a top spins on a table, the tiny quarks inside protons and neutrons also spin. Now a complex calculation by theoretical nuclear physicists at Jefferson Lab has revealed that a quark's spin may ...