Fermions are particles with an intrinsic angular momentum (i.e. spin) equal to a "half integer" number of fundamental units: $\frac{(2n+1)}{2} \hbar$ for integer $n$. Fermions are required to be in a quantum state that is globally anti-symmetric, which leads to the Pauli Exclusion Principle barring ...

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Huge confusion with Fermions and Bosons and how they relate to total spin of atom

I am supremely confused when something has spin or when it does not. For example, atomic Hydrogen has 4 fermions, three quarks to make a proton, and 1 electron. There is an even number of fermions, ...
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117 views

How is the dynamic equilibrium nature of fermi-dirac distribution of particles facilitated?

I read this in Kittel: Introduction to Solid State Physics about deriving that product of electron and hole concentration as independent at a given temperature by the law of mass action. For this ...
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79 views

Complex masses for Dirac and Weyl spinors

I'm trying understand how to rotate Dirac fields to absorb complex phases in masses. I have a few related questions: With Weyl spinors, I understand, $$ \mathcal{L} = \text{kinetic} + ...
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56 views

Is conservation of statistics logically independent of spin?

If the number of fermions is $n$, we expect the quantity $(-1)^n$ to be conserved, i.e., $n$ never changes between even and odd. This is known as conservation of statistics. In the normal context of ...
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Compactifying on a circle and the exchange of R and NS sectors

I've noticed a general phenomenon in compactifying on a circle where if you start with, say, an NS field, then the KK fields with an index along the circle will be in the R sector, and those without ...
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Has hep-th/0312070 forgotten to fix $s_{0} = 1/2$ for the fermionic states in the second table on page 52?

Link to the original paper: The Gauge/String Correspondence Towards Realistic Gauge Theories (arXiv paper) On page 52 we see that, for a theory of Dp-branes placed at an orbifold (orbifold = ...
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140 views

Chiral fermions from torsion flux in M-theory?

Witten's 1981 paper "Search for a realistic Kaluza-Klein theory" is frequently cited for its observation that, in a compactification of d=11 supergravity on a manifold with SU(3) x SU(2) x U(1) ...
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230 views

Lattice QCD and the 5th dimension

I was digging into Nielson-Ninomiya Theorem and doubler fermions, as well as solutions to these problems using Domain Wall Fermions and overlap lattice fermions, both of which make effective use of a ...
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62 views

Can composite field consists of two fermions cause cosmic inflation rather one scalar field?

Inflation is triggered by one scalar field, can a field composite of fermions do the same in the early universe
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24 views

How does a state vector change under an exchange of a boson and a fermion?

How does a state vector change under an exchange of a boson and a fermion ? That's how is $\Psi_{\alpha,\beta}$ related to $\Psi_{\beta,\alpha}$ where $\alpha$ and $\beta$ are a boson and a fermion ...
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34 views

How to put spin-1/2 Fermi sea into real space representation?

For $N$ spin-1/2 free fermions, the ground state is given by the Fermi sea, $$|{\rm FS}\rangle = \prod_{|{\bf k}|<k_F} c_{{\bf k}, \uparrow}^\dagger c_{{\bf k}, \downarrow}^\dagger |0\rangle $$ ...
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105 views

Number of Grassmann generators for Dirac field?

How many Grassmann generators are sufficient for the description of a Dirac spinor in 4 dimensions? i.e. The Dirac field is a map to $\Lambda_N$, the space of supernumbers with $N$ real Grassmann ...
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38 views

Time ordering and Fermions

Having time ordering operator for fermions, should it reverse sign if it swaps operators with opposite spin variable? In other words should $T[c_{t_1,\uparrow}c_{t_2,\downarrow}^\dagger]$ return ...
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86 views

Fock picture of bosonification in condensates

I want to understand how bosonification in a condensate must be interpreted in the Fock states picture Say i have uncoupled fermions in a set of states $E_1$, $E_2$ ... over the vacuum $E_0$. They ...
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122 views

Neutrino mass with Dirac and Majorana

Why both Dirac mass and Majorana mass terms are needed to explain the mass of a neutrino?
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313 views

Ground state energies with fermions of same spin?

Consider two non-interacting Fermions (half-integer spin) confined in a 'box'. Construct the anti-symmetric wavefunctions and compare the corresponding ground-state energies of the two systems; ...