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exclusion principle

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exclusion principle

In physics, a principle of atomic structure originated by Austrian-born US physicist Wolfgang Pauli. It states that no two electrons in a single atom may have the same set of quantum numbers.

Hence, it is impossible to pack together certain elementary particles, such as electrons, beyond a certain critical density, otherwise they would share the same location and quantum number. A white dwarf star, which consists of electrons and other elementary particles, is thus prevented from contracting further by the exclusion principle and never collapses. Elementary particles in the class fermions obey the exclusion principle whilst those in the class bosons do not.
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? Mentioned in ? References in periodicals archive
 
EXCLUSION PRINCIPLE Although Tozier started the auction on a whim, his offer was serious: 40 hours of his time to collaborate on a project of the winning bidder's choosing in one of Tozier's areas of expertise, which include machine learning and complex systems.
Theorems for sale: an online auctioneer offers math amateurs a ... by Klarreich, Erica / Science News
Pauli won the Nobel prize for his exclusion principle, a theory that, among other things, explains why a table, or any piece of matter, doesn't just collapse-matter is, after all, mostly empty space.
Who Got Einstein's Office? Eccentricity and Genius at the Institute ... by Martin, Nicholas / Washington Monthly
Fermions obey a rule of quantum mechanics known as the Pauli exclusion principle.
When the other half gets really cold by Weiss, P. / Science News
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