quark model

noun

, Physics.

1. a scheme that explains the quantum numbers of all the baryons and mesons by assuming that baryons are composed of three quarks and mesons of a quark and an antiquark, with different combinations of quark and antiquark flavors giving different sets of quantum numbers.

Example Sentences

Then, around 1970, researchers at Stanford’s SLAC accelerator seemed to triumphantly confirm the quark model when they shot high-speed electrons at protons and saw the electrons ricochet off objects inside.

From Quanta Magazine