Dibaryons with functional methods

The core of the atom consists of protons and neutrons, which are bound together by the strong nuclear force. Even though this strong force underlies the periodic table of elements, we still understand only few aspects of it. Today we know that protons and neutrons are not elementary particles but have a substructure: They consist of three quarks, which are bound together by gluons - the glue that binds us. There are many other particles composed of quarks and gluons, which are generally called hadrons. We know about hadrons made of three quarks (like protons and neutrons) and those made of a quark and an antiquark. In the past two decades, however, high-energy experiments have spectacularly shown that also exotic hadrons exist tetraquarks, pentaquarks, and possibly even a new form of matter consisting of glue alone (glueballs). A particularly exciting aspect is that such exotic hadrons may hold the key for unlocking our understanding of the nuclear force. The simplest composite nucleus is the deuteron, which consists of a proton and a neutron. At the same time, however, it holds six quarks and thereby forms a complex exotic hadron (hexaquark). Therefore, the question we want to answer in this project is: How can the deuteron be described from the fundamental theory of quarks and gluons? Does the solution of the six-body problem dynamically generate clusters of three quarks, so that the deuteron turns into a bound state of proton and neutron by itself? And are there other hexaquarks that do not fit into such a structure? Exploring these questions requires numerical simulations on high- performance computers. Their answers will deliver far-reaching new insights in the composition of light nuclei and predict further possible exotic particles which can be searched for in future experiments.