hyperon

American  

[hahy-puh-ron] / ˈhaɪ pəˌrɒn /

noun

Physics.

1. any baryon with strangeness other than zero, especially one with a relatively long lifetime.

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hyperon British  

/ ˈhaɪpəˌrɒn /

noun

1. physics any baryon that is not a nucleon

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hyperon Scientific  

/ hī′pə-rŏn′ /

1. Any of various baryons, other than the proton and neutron, that are unstable. The lambda particle is such an example. Hyperons are heavier than protons and neutrons, and they have nonzero strangeness.

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Etymology

Origin of hyperon

First recorded in 1950–55; hyper- + -on ¹

Example Sentences

One with a core made of pliable hyperon matter could have a smaller radius still.

From Nature • Mar. 3, 2020

But whereas neutrons contain the most basic and lowest-energy quarks, known as up and down quarks, a hyperon has at least one of those replaced with an exotic ‘strange’ quark.

From Nature • Mar. 3, 2020

And Gell-Mann made a prediction: that there should be one additional type of hyperon, that he called the W–, with strangeness –3, and certain mass and decay characteristics.

From Scientific American • Jun. 6, 2019

Reason is his discovery of two key particle ratios: that between the mass of mu and pi mesons, and that between the mass of the proton and sigma hyperon.

From Time Magazine Archive