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Quark and gluon interactions of colliding protons

When two high energy protons collide, it is the constituents of the protons – the quarks and gluons – that interact. The dynamics of quark and gluon interactions are described in four animations, focusing on the main dynamic features. The animations describe the production of the Higgs boson, top quarks and particle jet production. Four of the animations are linked to here.

The Higgs particle – gluon fusion

The Higgs particle is expected to be produced in collisions when a gluon from each of the protons merge in a high energy collision – a gluon fusion.

Top quarks – gluon fusion

A pair of top quarks – a top quark and an antitop quark - is expected to be produced in collisions when a gluon from each of the protons merge in a high energy interaction.

Jets of particles – gluon exchange

One very common interaction is the exchange of a gluon between a quark in one of the protons and a quark in the other proton, resulting in several jets of particles.

The Z particle – quark antiquark annihilation

The massive Z particle is produced when a quark and an antiquark annihilate.


Even if the speed is high, these animations can probably be appreciated by most people, but there are subtleties that will only be understood with some additional information. Some of this information can be found on the web side and in the Physics Education articles. To describe all the dynamics of particle interactions and the Standard Model one will need a bit more than a couple of minutes.