multiplet
Sign in to saveIn physics and particularly in particle physics, a multiplet is the state space for 'internal' degrees of freedom of a particle; that is, degrees of freedom associated to a particle itself, as opposed to 'external' degrees of freedom such as the particle's position in space. Examples of such degrees of freedom are the spin state of a particle in quantum mechanics, or the color, isospin and hypercharge state of particles in the Standard Model of particle physics. Formally, we describe this state space by a vector space which carries the action of a group of continuous symmetries.
~9 min read
Article
9 sectionsContents
- Mathematical formulation
- Application to theoretical physics
- Physics
- Quantum field theory
- Examples
- Other uses
- Spectroscopy
- References
- See also
In physics and particularly in particle physics, a multiplet is the state space for 'internal' degrees of freedom of a particle; that is, degrees of freedom associated to a particle itself, as opposed to 'external' degrees of freedom such as the particle's position in space. Examples of such degrees of freedom are the spin state of a particle in quantum mechanics, or the color, isospin and hypercharge state of particles in the Standard Model of particle physics. Formally, we describe this state space by a vector space which carries the action of a group of continuous symmetries.
==Mathematical formulation==