Quantum Numbers

Intuitive

Quantum numbers are what we use to label elementary particles and their values are crucial for the behaviour of particles in experiments.

For example, an electron is defined by the following quantum numbers

  • mass: $9,109 \cdot 10^{-31}$ kg
  • spin: $\frac{1}{2}$
  • electric charge: $1,602 \cdot 10^{-19}$ C
  • weak charge, called weak isospin: $-\frac{1}{2}$
  • strong charge, called color charge: $0$

These labels determine how a given elementary particle behaves in experiments. The techincal term for these labels is quantum numbers.

Abstract

The motto in this section is: the higher the level of abstraction, the better.

Why is it interesting?