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Sable-Keech t1_jc07hox wrote

Reply to comment by Ridley_Himself in As they still have a neutral charge, can antineutrons replace neutrons in a regular atom? by Oheligud

Wouldn’t the proton and the antineutron remain far enough away to avoid their component antiquarks from annihilating?

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Hotdropper t1_jc0rs2a wrote

Quantum chromodynamics is the answer here, I believe.

Essentially, the proton and neutron in a hydrogen atom (or any atom) aren’t static.

They are constantly swapping roles back and forth, the proton losing some energy and turning into a neutron, and the neutron then picking up that shed energy and turning into a proton.

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Quantum_Patricide t1_jc4rwsb wrote

If you look at the quantum energy levels, the proton and the antineutron, being distinct fermions, can occupy the same energy level (in this case the 1s orbital) and so would be literally in the same place as opposed to far away.

Secondly, the nuclear interaction inside nuclei essentially consists of nucleons swapping quarks with eachother (and creating virtual antiquarks so overall a meson is the exchange particle). So if the proton and the antineutron were bound then an up quark would move from the proton to the antineutron but interact with the antiup quark there and annihilate.

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