Editing Baryon (section)

== Background ==
Baryons are strongly interacting [[fermion]]s; that is, they are acted on by the [[strong nuclear force]] and are described by [[Fermi–Dirac statistics]], which apply to all particles obeying the [[Pauli exclusion principle]]. This is in contrast to the [[boson]]s, which do not obey the exclusion principle.

Baryons, alongside [[meson]]s, are [[hadron]]s, composite particles composed of [[quark]]s. Quarks have [[baryon number]]s of ''B''&nbsp;=&nbsp;{{sfrac|1|3}} and antiquarks have baryon numbers of ''B''&nbsp;=&nbsp;−{{sfrac|1|3}}. The term "baryon" usually refers to ''triquarks''—baryons made of three quarks (''B''&nbsp;=&nbsp;{{sfrac|1|3}}&nbsp;+&nbsp;{{sfrac|1|3}}&nbsp;+&nbsp;{{sfrac|1|3}}&nbsp;=&nbsp;1).

Other [[exotic baryon]]s have been proposed, such as [[pentaquark]]s—baryons made of four quarks and one antiquark (''B''&nbsp;=&nbsp;{{sfrac|1|3}}&nbsp;+&nbsp;{{sfrac|1|3}}&nbsp;+&nbsp;{{sfrac|1|3}}&nbsp;+&nbsp;{{sfrac|1|3}}&nbsp;−&nbsp;{{sfrac|1|3}}&nbsp;=&nbsp;1),<ref>H. Muir (2003)</ref><ref>K. Carter (2003)</ref> but their existence is not generally accepted. The particle physics community as a whole did not view their existence as likely in 2006,<ref name=PDGPentaquarks2006>W.-M. Yao et al. (2006): [http://pdg.lbl.gov/2006/reviews/theta_b152.pdf Particle listings – Θ<sup>+</sup>]</ref> and in 2008, considered evidence to be overwhelmingly against the existence of the reported pentaquarks.<ref name=PDGPentaquarks2008>C. Amsler et al. (2008): [http://pdg.lbl.gov/2008/reviews/pentaquarks_b801.pdf Pentaquarks]</ref> However, in July 2015, the [[LHCb]] experiment observed two resonances consistent with pentaquark states in the Λ{{su|p=0|b=b}} → J/ψK{{su|p=−}}p decay, with a combined [[statistical significance]] of 15σ<!-- YES, FIFTEEN SIGMA. See Talk:Pentaquark-->.<ref name="LHCb-public">
{{cite web
 |author=LHCb
 |date=14 July 2015
 |title=Observation of particles composed of five quarks, pentaquark-charmonium states, seen in Λ{{su|b=b|p=0}} → J/ψpK<sup>−</sup> decays.
 |url=http://lhcb-public.web.cern.ch/lhcb-public/Welcome.html#Penta
 |publisher=[[CERN]]
 |access-date=2015-07-14
}}</ref><ref name="LHCb2015">
{{cite journal
 |author=R. Aaij et al. ([[LHCb]] collaboration)
 |year=2015
 |title=Observation of J/ψp resonances consistent with pentaquark states in Λ{{su|p=0|b=b→J/ψK}}<sup>−</sup>p decays
 |journal=[[Physical Review Letters]]
 |volume=115 |issue=7
 |pages=072001
 |doi=10.1103/PhysRevLett.115.072001
 |bibcode = 2015PhRvL.115g2001A |arxiv = 1507.03414
 |pmid=26317714 |s2cid=119204136
}}</ref>

In theory, heptaquarks (5 quarks, 2 antiquarks), nonaquarks (6 quarks, 3 antiquarks), etc. could also exist.