The Delta baryons (or Δ baryons, also called Delta resonances) are a family of subatomic particle made of three up or down quarks (u or d quarks).
Four closely related Δ baryons exist:
Δ++
(constituent quarks: uuu),
Δ+
(uud),
Δ0
(udd), and
Δ−
(ddd), which respectively carry an electric charge of +2 e, +1 e, 0 e, and −1 e. The Δ baryons have a mass of about , a 1232 MeV/c2spin of 3⁄2, and an isospin of 3⁄2. Ordinary protons and neutrons (nucleons (symbol N)), by contrast, have a mass of about , a 939 MeV/c2spin of 1⁄2, and an isospin of 1⁄2. The
Δ+
(uud) and
Δ0
(udd) particles are the higher-mass excitations of the proton (
N+
, uud) and neutron (
N0
, udd), respectively. However, the
Δ++
and
Δ−
have no direct nucleon analogues.