ABSTRACT
SU(3) is much more than just taxonomy. If SU(3) were an exact symmetry, all the particles of the octet would have the same mass. The differences between different particle masses within the representations, the mass splittings, should be small compared to the average mass. Particles like the baryons and mesons that participate in the strong interactions are generically called hadrons. The baryons and mesons are the lightest hadrons. Gell-Mann was able to predict not only its existence, but also its mass. The octet of spin 1/2 baryons have magnetic moments. Unlike the electron magnetic moment, however, the baryon moments cannot be calculated just from their masses and quantum electrodynamics.
