Physicists find that an ultrahigh-energy proton looks like a black disk
Thursday, December 8, 2011 - 09:01
in Physics & Chemistry
(PhysOrg.com) -- What does a proton look like? The common answer to this question is that protons are much too small to scatter light, and since light is necessary for us to see things, protons do not look like anything. But in a new study, physicists have gathered sufficient evidence to show that, at least at very high energies, the proton is a black disk sort of an elongated hockey puck. This description fits only for protons at such ultrahigh energies that even the most advanced experiments will probably never be able to detect them.