Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Are Bosons visible like fermions?

The main difference between bosons and fermions is that fermions cannot occupy the same quantum state as another fermion while bosons can. That means if an electron is orbiting around an atom another electron cannot also occupy that specific spot or state. It's sort of the reason why matter can't occupy the space other matter is occupying. Bosons on the other hand CAN occupy the same state simultaneously. One kind of boson I know you have heard of are photons. My Quantum Mechancis II class didn't cover practical applications in detail so I hope I'm not horribly mistaken when I say this, but an example of many photons occupying the same state is a laser beam.

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