Inside the proton, the ‘most complicated thing you could possibly imagine’
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HN comment orderI just had a really stupid thought, after finishing reading the article. So, the electron is an elementary particle, right? Compared to the proton, the electron is "simple", yes? Despite this difference in complexity, an electron has a charge of -e and a proton has a charge of +e. They are exactly complementary regarding charge (if I am understanding right, I am not a smart person). my question is... why? why must protons and electrons be perfectly complementary regarding charge?…
This should be required reading for this article: https://profmattstrassler.com/2022/09/09/protons-and-charm-q... Virtual particles do not necessarily have an invariant mass. That's why you can find examples of typically huge particles inside protons. That's why a beta decay of a neutron can involve the production of a virtual W- boson that has an invariant mass that's 86 times more massive than the neutron.
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- Breakout years
- 2
- Total points
- 1163
- Total comments
- 776
100+ points or 50+ comments
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reference only — not used in Hall rules or ranking
Every submission
| Date | Title as submitted | By | Points | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022-10-19 | Inside the ProtonFirst breakout | shantanu_sharma | 550 | 209 |
| 2024-02-14 | Inside the proton, the ‘most complicated thing you could possibly imagine’Best thread · Latest 20+ point return | MetallicCloud | 612 | 567 |
| 2025-12-27 | The Proton, the 'Most Complicated Thing You Could Possibly Imagine' | tzury | 1 | 0 |