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Glossary Of String Theory
This page is a glossary of terms in string theory, including related areas such as supergravity, supersymmetry, and high energy physics. Conventions αβγ How are these related? There is only one dimensional constant in string theory, and that is the inverse string tension \alpha^ with units of area. Sometimes \alpha^ is therefore replaced by a length l_s=\sqrt. The string tension is mostly defined as the fraction :\frac. Tension is energy or work per unit length. In natural units c=1 and \hbar=1, and hence \alpha^ has dimension of length/energy or length/mass. Since \hbar has the dimension of action, i.e. momentum times length, it follows that in natural units mass =1/length, and so \alpha^ has the unit of area. The slope \alpha^ of a Regge trajectory \alpha(M^2) in Regge theory is the derivative of spin S or angular momentum with respect to mass-squared, i.e. :\frac. Since angular momentum is moment of momentum p, i.e. length times mass with c=1, S is dim ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
String Theory
In physics, string theory is a theoretical framework in which the point-like particles of particle physics are replaced by one-dimensional objects called strings. String theory describes how these strings propagate through space and interact with each other. On distance scales larger than the string scale, a string looks just like an ordinary particle, with its mass, charge, and other properties determined by the vibrational state of the string. In string theory, one of the many vibrational states of the string corresponds to the graviton, a quantum mechanical particle that carries the gravitational force. Thus, string theory is a theory of quantum gravity. String theory is a broad and varied subject that attempts to address a number of deep questions of fundamental physics. String theory has contributed a number of advances to mathematical physics, which have been applied to a variety of problems in black hole physics, early universe cosmology, nuclear physics, and conde ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gamma Function
In mathematics, the gamma function (represented by , the capital letter gamma from the Greek alphabet) is one commonly used extension of the factorial function to complex numbers. The gamma function is defined for all complex numbers except the non-positive integers. For every positive integer , \Gamma(n) = (n-1)!\,. Derived by Daniel Bernoulli, for complex numbers with a positive real part, the gamma function is defined via a convergent improper integral: \Gamma(z) = \int_0^\infty t^ e^\,dt, \ \qquad \Re(z) > 0\,. The gamma function then is defined as the analytic continuation of this integral function to a meromorphic function that is holomorphic in the whole complex plane except zero and the negative integers, where the function has simple poles. The gamma function has no zeroes, so the reciprocal gamma function is an entire function. In fact, the gamma function corresponds to the Mellin transform of the negative exponential function: \Gamma(z) = \mathcal M \ (z ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Muon
A muon ( ; from the Greek letter mu (μ) used to represent it) is an elementary particle similar to the electron, with an electric charge of −1 '' e'' and a spin of , but with a much greater mass. It is classified as a lepton. As with other leptons, the muon is not thought to be composed of any simpler particles; that is, it is a fundamental particle. The muon is an unstable subatomic particle with a mean lifetime of , much longer than many other subatomic particles. As with the decay of the non-elementary neutron (with a lifetime around 15 minutes), muon decay is slow (by subatomic standards) because the decay is mediated only by the weak interaction (rather than the more powerful strong interaction or electromagnetic interaction), and because the mass difference between the muon and the set of its decay products is small, providing few kinetic degrees of freedom for decay. Muon decay almost always produces at least three particles, which must include an electron o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lambda Baryon
The lambda baryons (Λ) are a family of subatomic hadron particles containing one up quark, one down quark, and a third quark from a higher flavour generation, in a combination where the quantum wave function changes sign upon the flavour of any two quarks being swapped (thus slightly different from a neutral sigma baryon, ). They are thus baryons, with total isospin of 0, and have either neutral electric charge or the elementary charge +1. Overview The lambda baryon was first discovered in October 1950, by V. D. Hopper and S. Biswas of the University of Melbourne, as a neutral V particle with a proton as a decay product, thus correctly distinguishing it as a baryon, rather than a meson, i.e. different in kind from the K meson discovered in 1947 by Rochester and Butler; they were produced by cosmic rays and detected in photographic emulsions flown in a balloon at . Though the particle was expected to live for , it actually survived for . The property that caused it to live ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cosmological Constant
In cosmology, the cosmological constant (usually denoted by the Greek capital letter lambda: ), alternatively called Einstein's cosmological constant, is the constant coefficient of a term that Albert Einstein temporarily added to his field equations of general relativity. He later removed it. Much later it was revived and reinterpreted as the energy density of space, or vacuum energy, that arises in quantum mechanics. It is closely associated with the concept of dark energy. Einstein originally introduced the constant in 1917 to counterbalance the effect of gravity and achieve a static universe, a notion that was the accepted view at the time. Einstein's cosmological constant was abandoned after Edwin Hubble's confirmation that the universe was expanding. From the 1930s until the late 1990s, most physicists agreed with Einstein's choice of setting the cosmological constant to zero. That changed with the discovery in 1998 that the expansion of the universe is accelerating, im ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Weinberg Angle
The weak mixing angle or Weinberg angle is a parameter in the Weinberg– Salam theory of the electroweak interaction, part of the Standard Model of particle physics, and is usually denoted as . It is the angle by which spontaneous symmetry breaking rotates the original and vector boson plane, producing as a result the boson, and the photon. Its measured value is slightly below 30°, but also varies, very slightly increasing, depending on how high the relative momentum of the particles involved in the interaction is that the angle is used for. Details The algebraic formula for the combination of the and vector bosons (i.e. 'mixing') that simultaneously produces the massive boson and the massless photon () is expressed by the formula : \begin \gamma \\ Z^0 \end = \begin \cos \theta_\text & \sin \theta_\text \\ -\sin \theta_\text & \cos \theta_\text \end \begin B^0 \\ W^0 \end . The ''weak mixing angle'' also gives the relationship between the masses of the W an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Theta Function
In mathematics, theta functions are special functions of several complex variables. They show up in many topics, including Abelian varieties, moduli spaces, quadratic forms, and solitons. As Grassmann algebras, they appear in quantum field theory. The most common form of theta function is that occurring in the theory of elliptic functions. With respect to one of the complex variables (conventionally called ), a theta function has a property expressing its behavior with respect to the addition of a period of the associated elliptic functions, making it a quasiperiodic function. In the abstract theory this quasiperiodicity comes from the cohomology class of a line bundle on a complex torus, a condition of descent. One interpretation of theta functions when dealing with the heat equation is that "a theta function is a special function that describes the evolution of temperature on a segment domain subject to certain boundary conditions". Throughout this article, (e^)^ should b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
C Parity
In physics, the C parity or charge parity is a multiplicative quantum number of some particles that describes their behavior under the symmetry operation of charge conjugation. Charge conjugation changes the sign of all quantum charges (that is, additive quantum numbers), including the electrical charge, baryon number and lepton number, and the flavor charges strangeness, charm, bottomness, topness and Isospin (''I''3). In contrast, it doesn't affect the mass, linear momentum or spin of a particle. Formalism Consider an operation \mathcal that transforms a particle into its antiparticle, :\mathcal C \, , \psi\rangle = , \bar \rangle. Both states must be normalizable, so that : 1 = \langle \psi , \psi \rangle = \langle \bar , \bar \rangle = \langle \psi , \mathcal^\dagger \mathcal C, \psi \rangle, which implies that \mathcal C is unitary, :\mathcal C \mathcal^\dagger =\mathbf. By acting on the particle twice with the \mathcal operator, : \mathcal^2 , \psi\rangle = \mathcal , \b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Parity (physics)
In physics, a parity transformation (also called parity inversion) is the flip in the sign of ''one'' spatial coordinate. In three dimensions, it can also refer to the simultaneous flip in the sign of all three spatial coordinates (a point reflection): :\mathbf: \beginx\\y\\z\end \mapsto \begin-x\\-y\\-z\end. It can also be thought of as a test for chirality of a physical phenomenon, in that a parity inversion transforms a phenomenon into its mirror image. All fundamental interactions of elementary particles, with the exception of the weak interaction, are symmetric under parity. The weak interaction is chiral and thus provides a means for probing chirality in physics. In interactions that are symmetric under parity, such as electromagnetism in atomic and molecular physics, parity serves as a powerful controlling principle underlying quantum transitions. A matrix representation of P (in any number of dimensions) has determinant equal to −1, and hence is distinct from a rotat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eta Meson
The eta () and eta prime meson () are isosinglet mesons made of a mixture of up, down and strange quarks and their antiquarks. The charmed eta meson () and bottom eta meson () are similar forms of quarkonium; they have the same spin and parity as the (light) defined, but are made of charm quarks and bottom quarks respectively. The top quark is too heavy to form a similar meson, due to its very fast decay. General The eta was discovered in pion–nucleon collisions at the Bevatron in 1961 by A. Pevsner ''et al''. at a time when the proposal of the Eightfold Way was leading to predictions and discoveries of new particles from symmetry considerations. The difference between the mass of the and that of the is larger than the quark model can naturally explain. This “ η–η′ puzzle ” can be resolved by the 't Hooft instanton mechanism, whose realization is also known as the Witten–Veneziano mechanism. Specifically, in QCD, the higher mass of th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dedekind Eta Function
In mathematics, the Dedekind eta function, named after Richard Dedekind, is a modular form of weight 1/2 and is a function defined on the upper half-plane of complex numbers, where the imaginary part is positive. It also occurs in bosonic string theory. Definition For any complex number with , let ; then the eta function is defined by, :\eta(\tau) = e^\frac \prod_^\infty \left(1-e^\right) = q^\frac \prod_^\infty \left(1 - q^n\right) . Raising the eta equation to the 24th power and multiplying by gives :\Delta(\tau)=(2\pi)^\eta^(\tau) where is the modular discriminant. The presence of 24 can be understood by connection with other occurrences, such as in the 24-dimensional Leech lattice. The eta function is holomorphic on the upper half-plane but cannot be continued analytically beyond it. The eta function satisfies the functional equations :\begin \eta(\tau+1) &=e^\frac\eta(\tau),\\ \eta\left(-\frac\right) &= \sqrt\, \eta(\tau).\, \end In the second equation the bra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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