"Asymptotic freedom arises as follows. The fundamental interactions of quarks and gluons are modified by “radiative” corrections of higher order in the quark-gluon coupling constant. These radiative corrections depend on the quark and gluon momenta. A careful analysis shows that the cumulative effect of radiative corrections to all orders can be characterized by a momentum-dependent effective coupling constant. The effective coupling is found to vanish in the limit of large momenta (to be precise, large momentum transfers between the quarks and gluons). This is called asymptotic freedom. As a result of asymptotic freedom the quarks can behave as nearly free particles at short distances; this is required to explain the high energy electron scattering experiments ... Meanwhile the interactions of quarks at long distances can be strong enough to bind the quarks into the observed bound states; protons, mesons, etc."
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Academics from the United StatesNobel laureates in PhysicsNobel laureates from the United StatesPhysicists from the United StatesScientists from Massachusetts
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Kenneth G. Wilson
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