Diquark fragmentation

Abstract

Since the diquark system is both composite and colored, it is rapidly becoming an interesting topic of research with the potential to produce considerable future information on the dynamics of subhadron systems and confinement. In this paper we formulate a model with which quantitative studies of diquark ($\mathrm{qq}$) fragmentation can be made. The equations of the model are based on vertices $\mathrm{}\left(\mathrm{qq}\right)\mathrm{}\to \mathrm{baryon}+\overline{q}$ and $\mathrm{}\left(\mathrm{qq}\right)\mathrm{}\to \mathrm{meson}+\left(\mathrm{qq}\right)\mathrm{}$ leading to recursive cascade-type Volterra integral equations. These equations take the composite nature of a diquark into account and correlate diquark fragmentation into baryons with fragmentation into mesons. Comparison with existing data is good, suggesting that our approach has utility for experimenters planning further studies. The experimenter will also find useful predictions for $\mathrm{ud}$ and $\mathrm{uu}$ (or $\mathrm{dd}$) fragmentation into mesons and baryons. Our work suggests that the diquark cannot simply be treated as a single colored unit which directly forms a baryon.