Constituent quark

A constituent quark is a current quark with a notional 'covering' induced by the renormalization group. A constituent quark is a current quark with a notional 'covering' induced by the renormalization group. In the low energy limit of QCD, a description by means of perturbation theory is not possible: Here, no asymptotic freedom exists, but collective interactions between valence quarks and sea quarks gain strongly in significance. Part of the effects of virtual quarks and virtual gluons in the 'sea' can be assigned to a quark so well, that the term 'constituent quark' can serve as an effective description of the low energy system.