Glossary
Electromagnetism
nonpermeable - same magnetic permeability as free space
grounded - potential fixed at zero
plasma frequency - resonant frequency of electron oscillations in a plasma
invariant mass -
relativistic mass - E/c^2
Quantum Mechanics
classical spins - can only be up or down
local potential - velocity independent (Abers' definition)
central potential - spherically symmetric
attractive potential - always less than value at infinity
singlet state - total spin is zero
triplet state - total spin is one
dipole transition - component of vector in the matrix element
c-number - commutes like scalars (Shankar page 54)
q-number - non-commuting like operators (Shankar page 54)
exchange force - apparent force due to Pauli exclusion
Thermodynamics
integrals of motion - constants of motion
diathermal - heat conductor
adiabatic - heat insulator
quasistatic - stays infinitesimally close to equilibrium
ideal gas - non-interacting particles
degenerate gas - obeys FD or BE statistics
thermodynamic equilibrium - mechanical, thermal, and chemical equilibrium
kinetic theory - detailed study of particle interactions
statistical weight - parameter of ln in conventional definition of entropy
occupancy - particles-per-quantum-state function
dispersion relation - relation between energy and momentum
boltzmann factor - canonical weighting factor
equation of state
intensive parameter
extensive parameter
internal parameter
external parameter
microscopic parameter
macroscopic parameter
classical regime
Classical Mechanics
virial - a certain function relating to a system of forces and their points of application, first used by Clausius in the investigation of problems in molecular physics. Etymology: Latin expression vis, viris, force.
Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913).
elastic collision - collision in which kinetic energy is conserved
inelastic collision of the first kind (endoergic collision) - collision in which kinetic energy is lost
inelastic collision of the second kind (superelastic collision, exoergic collision) - collision in which kinetic energy is gained
Particle Physics
scalar particle - particle of spin zero
vector particle - particle of non-zero spin
fermion - a particle with half integer spin
boson - a particle with integer spin
gauge boson - a boson that acts as a mediator of a fundamental interaction
Majorana fermion - a fermion that is its own anti-particle
Dirac fermion - a fermion that is not its own anti-particle
valence quark - a quark which imparts quantum numbers onto a hadron
sea quark - a virtual quark in a hadron that does not contribute to the hadron's quantum number
lepton universality - the couplings of the leptons to gauge bosons are flavor-independent
Mathematics
power law - variable to a constant power
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