It Goes On and On


The On's of Solid State Physics



Bogulon -
Boson - An elementary particle which is described a wavefunction that is symmetric under particle interchange.
Electron - A negatively charged light particle that occupies the bulk of matter and is the main player in chemistry.
Exciton - A bound state like a hydrogen atom which is made up of an electron and a hole. Two varieties: Frensel and Wannier.
Fermion - An elementary particle which is described by a wavefunction that is antisymmetric under particle interchange.
Holon -
Magnon - A quantum of a spin wave.
Magneton -
Neutron - Massive particles which can be used in scattering experiments to probe the crystal structure and other properties.
Kohnon - (OK, I'm making this one up.) Fictional non-interacting K.S. particle.
Nucleon - A particle (neutron or proton) which typically comprises the nuclei.
Oscillon -
Plasmon - A charge density wave.
Polariton - Mixed nature transverse electromagnetic modes propagating in a diatomic crystal.
Polaron - An electron and a lattice polarization.
Photon - A particle of light.
Phonon - A particle of sound; a quantum of lattice vibration.
Proton - Massive particles that supply positive charge to the nuclei.
Renormalizon - A particle introduced when one normalizes a theory.
Roton -
Silicon - Useful material.
Skyrmion -
Soliton -
Spinon -
Vison -

rmagyar@physics.rutgers.edu