Majorana particles are very peculiar members of the family of elementary particles. First predicted in 1937 by the Italian physicist Ettore Majorana, these particles belong to the group of so-called fermions, a group that ...
Superconductivity
May 10, 2019
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Gazibegović, Ph.D. candidate in the group of prof. Erik Bakkers at the department of Applied Physics, developed a device made of ultrathin networks of nanowires in the shape of "hashtags." This device allows pairs of Majorana ...
Quantum Physics
May 10, 2019
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34
Researchers at PSI have investigated a novel crystalline material that exhibits electronic properties that have never been seen before. It is a crystal of aluminum and platinum atoms arranged in a special way. In the symmetrically ...
General Physics
May 08, 2019
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268
A group of scientists at the Department of Energy's Fermilab has figured out how to use quantum computing to simulate the fundamental interactions that hold together our universe.
Quantum Physics
May 03, 2019
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Researchers in France and Japan have demonstrated a theoretical type of unconventional superconductivity in a uranium-based material, according to a study published in the journal Physical Review Letters.
Superconductivity
Apr 18, 2019
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5
The combination of different phases of water—solid ice, liquid water, and water vapor—would require some effort to achieve experimentally. For instance, if you wanted to place ice next to vapor, you would have to continuously ...
Quantum Physics
Apr 01, 2019
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69
Graphene is expected to behave like a quantum-critical, relativistic plasma known as "Dirac fluid" near charge neutrality in which massless electrons and holes rapidly collide. In a recent study now published in Science, ...
What exactly happens inside neutron stars – the final stage of a giant star – is subject to speculation. In terms of physics, the interiors of neutron stars, cold atomic gasses and nuclear systems all have one thing in ...
General Physics
Mar 04, 2019
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186
Quasiparticles that behave like massless fermions, known as Weyl fermions, have been at the center of a string of exciting findings in condensed matter physics in recent years. The group of physicist Sebastian Huber at ETH ...
Quantum Physics
Feb 12, 2019
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A team of researchers from the University of Central Florida and Michigan Technological University has developed a laser system concept built on the principles of supersymmetry. In their paper published in the journal Science, ...
In particle physics, a fermion (named after Enrico Fermi) is any particle which obeys the Fermi–Dirac statistics (and follows the Pauli exclusion principle). Fermions contrast with bosons which obey Bose–Einstein statistics.
A fermion can be an elementary particle, such as the electron; or it can be a composite particle, such as the proton. The spin-statistics theorem holds that, in any reasonable relativistic quantum field theory, particles with integer spin are bosons, while particles with half-integer spin are fermions.
In contrast to bosons, only one fermion can occupy a particular quantum state at any given time. If more than one fermion occupies the same physical space, at least one property of each fermion, such as its spin, must be different. Fermions are usually associated with matter, whereas bosons are generally force carrier particles; although in the current state of quantum physics the distinction between the two concepts is unclear.
The Standard Model recognizes two types of elementary fermions: quarks and leptons. In all, the model distinguishes 24 different fermions: 6 quarks and 6 leptons, each with a corresponding anti-particle.
Composite fermions, such as protons and neutrons, are key building blocks of matter. Weakly interacting fermions can also display bosonic behavior under extreme conditions, such as in superconductivity.
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