Particle Strangeness

Protons are comprised of two up quarks and one down quark, though the properties from these quarks explain the charge, but not the mass or magnetic moment, of the proton. To explain the rest of the properties, physicists predict a "quantum sea" where quarks and antiquarks spring in and out of existence, which provide the necessary magnetic moment and mass.

A recent analysis of protons, presented at the April meeting of the American Physical Society, showed that these properties could not be explained by strange and antistrange quarks which, it appears, cancel out each others' contributions. It is much more likely that the observed proton quantities would be the result of pairs of up and down quarks popping in and out of existence.