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ApeMummy t1_jc0hsqq wrote

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

Question: how do sets of quarks annihilate simultaneously? Why doesn’t the energy released from the first annihilation cause the other quarks to scatter? Do they occupy the same physical space meaning all the annihilations are simultaneous?

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ghedipunk t1_jc11cgc wrote

The models presented so far don't describe individual quarks.

Rather, nuclear particles (the protons, antiprotons, neutrons, and antineutrons) are a soup of quarks and gluons that, on average, add up to a specific number of quarks.

So, yeah... for a basic understanding, watch this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZfmG_h5Oyg

To answer your question: We're firmly outside of the ideas we're familiar with when we think of particles. There is no concept of simultaneity at this scale; you need to rely on probabilities only.

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