Rutherford’s Atomic Nucleus versus Landau’s Gigantic Nucleus: Does Nature favor flavor symmetry?

Abstract: It is hypothesized that, though atomic nuclei are made of nucleons, strongly interacting matter with baryon number from $A simeq 10^{3-9}$ to $ sim 10^{57}$ would be composed of strangeons if Nature favors always the flavor symmetry of quarks. According to that logic, strangeon matter with $A sim 10^{57}$ could manifest in the form of pulsar-like compact stars, and multi-messenger observations with advanced facilities (e.g., China’s FAST) could eventually provide a disproof/proof. It is worth emphasizing that this point of view, based on established “old physics”, may have particular consequences for understanding our material world, for both normal luminous matter and the dark sector.