Abstract
The Harari-Shupe model of quarks and leptons is viewed, not as a gauge theory, but as a quantum-mechanical three-body problem of the extreme relativistic type involving massless preons. Considerations based onS 3-symmetry in the available degrees of freedom (spin, isospin, space and hypercolour) are employed in conjunction with a spin-dependence ansatz on the three-preon forces (Σa=σ (1)μv σ (3)λμ ) for an understanding of the three basic issues of (i) spin-1/2, (ii) generation structure and (iii) steeply rising mass patterns of quark-lepton families. The Σa-dynamics is compatible with the interpretation of colour as a manifestation ofS 3-symmetry, as envisaged in the original Harari-Shupe proposal, while the interpretation of the generation structure devolves on the role of a certain quantum numberN which takes on three different classes of values (3n, 3n ± 1;n = 0, 1, 2, ...) according to theS 3-symmetry of thespatial wavefunction.
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Mitra, A.N. Quark-lepton compositeness: A three-body scenario. Pramana - J Phys 32, 573–581 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02845988
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02845988