I apologize for any confusion caused by conflicting information. Allow me to clarify the concepts related to gluons and their properties.
In quantum chromodynamics (QCD), which is the theory describing the strong force, gluons are the gauge bosons that mediate the interactions between quarks, carrying the color charge. Gluons are massless particles with spin 1.
One important aspect of gluons is that they themselves carry color charge. Unlike electric charge, which is a scalar quantity, color charge is a property associated with the strong force and is described by a mathematical framework known as SU(3) color symmetry. In QCD, there are three color charges: red, green, and blue, along with their corresponding anticolors: antired, antigreen, and antiblue.
Gluons interact with quarks through the exchange of virtual gluons, which results in the strong force binding quarks together. These interactions involve both the color charge of the quarks and the color charge of the gluons. The exchange of gluons between quarks can be viewed as the exchange of virtual particles that carry color charge.
Regarding the number of gluons, QCD predicts that there are eight different types of gluons, often represented as a color octet. These eight gluons correspond to different combinations of color and anticolor charges.
It's important to note that the color charge is not a physical rotation in the usual sense but rather a mathematical representation of the symmetry associated with the strong force. The concept of color charge and its mathematical treatment using SU(3) symmetry is a fundamental aspect of QCD.
I hope this clears up any confusion and provides a more accurate understanding of gluons, their properties, and their role in the strong force.