Quantum chromodynamics possess an additional SU(3) gauge degree of freedom, later called color charge. Han and Nambu noted that quarks might interact via an octet of vector gauge bosons: the gluons. Since free quark searches consistently failed to turn up any evidence for the new particles, and because an elementary particle back then was "defined" as a particle which could be separated and isolated, Gell-Mann often said that quarks were merely convenient mathematical constructs, not real particles. The meaning of this statement was usually clear in context: He meant quarks are confined, but he also was implying that the strong interactions could
Exchange operator Such motion is often not carried out in practice. Rather, the operation is treated as a "what if" similar to a parity inversion or time reversal operation. Consider two repeated operations of such a particle exchange: Therefore, formula_1 is not only unitary but also an operator square root of 1, which leaves the possibilities Both signs are realized in nature. Particles satisfying the case of +1 are called "bosons", and particles satisfying the case of −1 are called "fermions". The spin–statistics theorem dictates that all particles with integer spin are bosons whereas all particles with half-integer spin are fermions. The