strange matter

American  

[straynj mat-er] / ˈstreɪndʒ ˈmæt ər /

noun

1. Physics. a hypothetical matter that contains up, down, and strange quarks in roughly comparable proportions.

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strange matter Scientific  

1. A hypothetical, extremely dense form of matter composed entirely of strange quarks. These quarks are not grouped into separate particles (like the quarks bundled into protons and neutrons in atomic nuclei) but form a single undifferentiated mass. The material of which hypothetical quark stars are composed is thought to be strange matter; some evidence for strange matter has also been found in collisions in particle accelerators and in seismic events possibly triggered by the passing of strange matter through the Earth.

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Example Sentences

A new physics result two decades in the making has found a surprisingly complex path for the production of strange matter within atoms.

From Scientific American • Apr. 27, 2023

In this particular case, a group of researchers focused on one variety of strange matter, called lambda particles.

From Scientific American • Apr. 27, 2023

In 2014, Slate asked around physics and science communication circles and came up with a list of women no less deserving than men honored for diodes or strange matter.

From Washington Post • Oct. 4, 2016

It seems a strange matter to us now that Charles Dickens should have been ashamed of the blacking-bottle episode of his boyhood. 

From The Life of George Borrow by Shorter, Clement K.

And though entrance was made difficult, most of the influential members of the community were assembled to hear the inquiry into this strange matter.

From The Diamond Pin by Wells, Carolyn