What is a hexaquark?
A hexaquark is a hypothetical particle composed of six quarks and antiquarks.
No hexaquarks have ever been observed experimentally – they remain hypothetical particles. If they do or can exist, they will either exist as three quark-antiquark pairs, or as six quarks (a dibaryon) or as six antiquarks (a diantibaryon).
It is thought that if hexaquarks can exist, they would be quite stable[1][2].
Hexaquarks are also a candidate for dark matter[2].
Names for other particles made of quarks
| Name | Number of Quarks | Status |
|---|---|---|
| diquark | 2 | confirmed – most mesons are diquarks |
| triquark | 3 | confirmed – most baryons are triquarks |
| tetraquark | 4 | confirmed |
| pentaquark | 5 | confirmed |
| hexaquark | 6 | hypothetical |
| heptaquark | 7 | hypothetical |
| octoquark | 8 | hypothetical |
| enneaquark | 9 | hypothetical |
| decaquark | 10 | hypothetical |
References
- ^ , Stability of hexaquarks in the string limit of confinement, Physical Review D 85 (1). http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.85.014019
- ^ , Stable Sexaquark. https://arxiv.org/abs/1708.08951