It's not true that quarks can be red, green, or blue. What the truth is that quarks are a vector in a three dimensional color space. If you have two quarks or two different positions, how do you compare them? Well, you need a connection field in between that tells you how to compare them. That connection gives rise to a force field, which in the case of quantum chromodynamics is the gluon.
Welcome to the May 2023 Ask Me Anything episode of Mindscape! These monthly excursions are funded by Patreon supporters (who are also the ones asking the questions). We take questions asked by Patreons, whittle them down to a more manageable number — based primarily on whether I have anything interesting to say about them, not whether the questions themselves are good — and sometimes group them together if they are about a similar topic. Enjoy!
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