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I don't have any definite information about what this means, either, but this thought occurs to me, for what it's worth. If one looks at the masses of protons and neutrons, and adds up the total of each in any given nucleus, it always adds to more than the measured mass of the nuclide itself. The difference, originally quaintly called the "mass defect," is, of course, the "binding energy" that serves to hold the nucleus together. But if one looks at the mass of the quarks that make up the proton and neutron, they add up to only about 10% of the mass of the proton or neutron. So where does the "binding energy" that holds these particles together come from? Part of it comes from the kinetic energy of the quarks, which can be estimated from the mass-energy relation and the uncertainty principle. The rest has to come from the kinetic energy of the gluons (which, IIRC, have zero rest mass). So this may have something to do with the statement that Prof. Baart quotes, n'est pas?
Prof E. E. Baart wrote:
> 3. I recently saw a statement by someone or other that "80 to 90% of
the energy in the universe exist in the Kinetic energies of the
gluons and quarks". How does this relate to rest mass ?
I have no idea what he's talking about. It's up to him to explain.