Those smaller particles are quarks in this case, meaning that the Ξ cc ++ is a hadron – the generic name for particles made of quarks. We don’t expect to observe the strong force playing favourites in this new hadron, but expectations can be confounded. The strong force is responsible for most of the mass of atoms and molecules, it dominates the interactions between particles at the high energies seen in stars, supernovae and cosmic rays. I have a feeling that understanding the strong force, and the behaviours that emerge from it, is a somewhat underrated endeavour in physics. Making predictions using the strong force is very challenging, even when only a few quarks are involved.

Source: The Guardian August 20, 2017 07:30 UTC