Silicon microstrip detector 2026-10-24
A semiconductor particle detector uses narrow conducting strips on depleted silicon to measure the position of an ionizing particle. The collecting electric field transports the generated electrons and holes; the induced signals identify the traversed strips.
Simon D. Kloß Created 2026-10-20 Updated 2026-11-05
A reduction decreases an oxidation state, recording gain in the formal electron assignment. For , the decrease is . The reduced chemical species serves as the oxidizing agent in the coupled redox.
Single-electron interference pattern buildup Created 2026-10-20 Updated 2026-10-20
A sequence of individual localized electron detections can accumulate a two-path interference distribution when the apparatus maintains coherence. The 1989 experiment led by Akira Tonomura used a field-emission source, an electron biprism, electron lenses and a position-sensitive electron counter. It realized two coherent paths without literal machined double slits. Low occupation of the instrument excludes interactions between different electrons as the origin of the fringes.[ref]
Single-electron superconducting tunneling Created 2026-10-18 Updated 2026-10-20
Single-electron superconducting tunneling transfers individual electrons across a barrier into or out of quasiparticle states of a material with superconductivity. In a normal-metal–insulator–superconductor junction, abbreviated NIS, only one electrode has superconductivity. Such a junction can reveal a superconducting energy gap without supporting a DC Josephson effect between two superconducting reservoirs.
For an elementary interpretation, assume an opaque barrier, approximately constant normal-electrode density of states, and an energy-independent tunneling matrix element over the range probed. Write the superconducting density of states divided by its normal-state value as , with measured from its chemical potential. A signed voltage convention chosen for positive normal-electrode injection giveswhere is the Fermi-Dirac distribution at a common temperature and is the normal-state junction electrical resistance. This current convention is local to the NIS measurement. The expression counts occupied initial and empty final states; it is a quasiparticle transport model, not a current-phase relation of a superconducting weak link.
An original analytic illustration uses the ideal fully gapped BCS theory spectrum at zero temperature, with positive gap edge :For positive , the occupation difference restricts the integral to . Since , integration and odd extension giveThe threshold is for this NIS model. In the corresponding zero-temperature single-electron process between two fully gapped superconductors, creating excitations on both sides instead requires . That quasiparticle threshold does not forbid coherent pair electric current below it. At finite temperature, thermally populated quasiparticles soften the simple threshold argument.
At zero temperature in the NIS approximation, away from the singular gap edge. Thus a voltage sweep probes the excitation density of states. The ideal divergence is rounded in real measurements, and at nonzero temperature the derivative samples a thermally broadened range of energies. For , the model has : electrical work creates excitations and is dissipated on relaxation. This distinguishes its steady transport from the conservative Josephson coupling energy.
Single-electron transfer 2026-10-20
Singly excited helium state 2026-10-20
A bound-state configuration with one electron predominantly in and the other in a different orbital . The two assignments of identical electrons to these orbitals must be combined with the appropriate exchange symmetry of two identical spin-one-half fermions. Symmetric spatial combinations accompany the singlet state; antisymmetric combinations accompany the triplet state.
Singly occupied molecular orbital 2026-10-20
A spatial molecular orbital occupied by one electron. In an open-shell molecule, its empty opposite-spin slot can accept another electron even though the spatial orbital is occupied.
Skipping orbit Created 2026-10-20 Updated 2026-11-05
A skipping orbit is the semiclassical path of a charged particle whose cyclotron arcs are repeatedly interrupted by a reflecting boundary. The centre of successive arcs advances along the edge. For electrons in a perpendicular positive , the opposite sides of a strip carry opposite directed motion. A smooth boundary replaces hard reflections by guiding-centre drift; the quantum counterpart is a quantum Hall edge state.
SLAC-MIT deep inelastic electron scattering experiment Created 2026-10-18 Updated 2026-10-25
Starting in 1967, a collaboration at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology directed an electron beam at liquid hydrogen, providing proton targets. Jerome Isaac Friedman, Henry Way Kendall and Richard Edward Taylor participated in this experimental program.[ref]
Deep Inelastic Scattering: Experiments on the Proton and the Observation of Scaling by Henry Way Kendall. 1990 Nobel lecture, section I.A, opening account of the program
The 1969 paper Observed Behavior of Highly Inelastic Electron-Proton Scattering reports inclusive electron spectra at and with incident energies from to . Its scaling comparison estimated under a transverse-virtual photon assumption, finding approximate agreement as a function of for and . These are the paper's conditions, not a claim of exact Bjorken scaling at every momentum transfer.[ref]
SLAC-MIT spectrometer readout and corrections Created 2026-10-18 Updated 2026-10-20
A movable magnetic spectrometer selected scattered electrons by momentum and scattering angle. Magnetic fields dispersed momenta at the focal plane. With relativistic electrons, the inferred momentum determines outgoing energy . Commissioning included steering the beam through the spectrometer at zero angle to check its optics and accepted solid angle. Counters sorted events into momentum and angle bins. The acceptance entered the conversion from counts to differential scattering cross-sections.[ref]
Deep Inelastic Scattering: The Early Years by Richard Edward Taylor. 1990 Nobel lecture, Fig. 15, magnet optics; Fig. 33 and adjacent acceptance-calibration account
Radiative corrections matter because photon emission can move events from an elastic scattering peak into lower outgoing-energy bins. The analyses subtracted the elastic radiative tail before unfolding inelastic radiation. Independent MIT and SLAC procedures provided a check. An uncorrected low- tail alone therefore cannot establish deep inelastic scattering.[ref]
Deep Inelastic Scattering: Experiments on the Proton and the Observation of Scaling by Henry Way Kendall. Section IV.C, radiative-tail subtraction, unfolding and independent analyses; Figs. 6–8
S. M. Husain Created 2026-10-20 Updated 2026-11-05
A reduction decreases an oxidation state, recording gain in the formal electron assignment. For , the decrease is . The reduced chemical species serves as the oxidizing agent in the coupled redox.
SN 1987A neutrino burst Created 2026-10-18 Updated 2026-10-20
The original Kamiokande paper reported a low-energy event cluster on 23 February 1987 above surrounding background. Inverse beta decay, , provides an electron antineutrino channel through Positron light. Neutrino-electron elastic scattering is more directional. The burst supported core-collapse supernova neutrino emission, with limited statistics and channel ambiguity.[ref]
Observation of a Neutrino Burst from the Supernova SN1987A by K. Hirata and others. pp. 1490–1493; Fig. 2, Table I and discussion
An original counting illustration shows why timing matters. Suppose an independently measured background is a Poisson process of rate . In a prespecified window , the probability of at least two background events isFor the synthetic choice , this is about , obtained by subtracting the zero- and one-event probabilities of the Poisson distribution. The Homestake experiment's delayed extraction cannot supply such capture-time clustering. This calculation is not a significance estimate for SN 1987A: searching many possible windows, varying acceptance and correlated backgrounds change the inference.
SNO solar-neutrino flavor experiment Created 2026-10-18 Updated 2026-10-20
In 2001, live days, reconstructed radius below and effective electron kinetic energy above gave a CC neutrino flux of for the assumed boron-8 spectrum. Source calibrations measured instrumental-cut signal loss. SNO's own CC–ES difference was ; comparison with Super-Kamiokande's precise ES flux gave evidence for non-electron active neutrinos. This was not an NC measurement.[ref]
In 2002 the pure-heavy water analysis used live days and a reconstructed kinetic-energy threshold. NC neutrons captured on deuterons emitted gamma rays, producing secondary electron light. The NC reaction threshold was , a different quantity. Californium-252 calibrated capture efficiency, but only detection efficiency after fiducial and energy cuts. Assays constrained backgrounds from radioactive decay and photodisintegration.[ref]
Direct Evidence for Neutrino Flavor Transformation from Neutral-Current Interactions in the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory by Q. R. Ahmad and others. PDF pp. 2–3: neutron calibration, thresholds and backgrounds
Energy, radius and direction relative to the Sun statistically separated channels. Assuming the standard boron-8 spectral shape, the NC total active neutrino flux was , consistent with stellar structure predictions. The non-electron active component differed from zero by . This established active flavour conversion, without individually tagging muon neutrinos and tau neutrinos. It did not exclude every sterile admixture.[ref]
Solar cell Created 2026-10-18 Updated 2026-11-05
A solar cell converts incident light into electrical power through the photovoltaic effect. A semiconductor p-n junction separates and collects photogenerated electrons and electron holes. An ideal illuminated junction has output current densityHere is the short-circuit current density, is the diode saturation current, and is the open-circuit electric potential difference. The conversion efficiency is the largest delivered divided by the incident power per unit area; the short-circuit and open-circuit operating points themselves deliver zero power.
Solar neutrino problem 2026-11-05
The solar neutrino problem was the historical deficit of detected electron neutrinos relative to predictions based on solar fusion and detector response. The key ambiguity was whether the Sun emitted fewer neutrinos than expected or whether neutrinos changed flavor before reaching the detector.
The Sudbury Neutrino Observatory compared charged-current reactions sensitive primarily to electron neutrinos with neutral-current reactions sensitive to all active flavors. The electron-flavor flux was suppressed while a substantial non-electron active component was present, supporting flavor transformation rather than simply lowering the total solar production. Comparing channels therefore tested particle behavior independently of relying on one detector's count deficit.[ref]
Solvated electron 2026-10-20
Solvation Created 2026-10-14 Updated 2026-10-20
Solvation is stabilization through interactions between a solute and its solvent. It involves both the solute's surroundings and reorganization of the solvent: neighbors move, orientations change, and existing interactions compete with new ones. Electric forces, Van der Waals forces, and specific interactions such as hydrogen bonds can contribute. Solvation can also occur at groups on an insoluble material, so it does not require complete dissolution.[ref]
Solvation by water is called hydration. Hydration of ions is the charged special case, but neutral molecules such as sucrose can also interact with water without becoming ions. A hydrated cation retains its positive net electric charge; orienting neutral water molecules around it does not supply an extra electron. Dissolution, desolvation, and ionization describe different changes, as the examples below show.[ref][ref]
11.2 Electrolytes. Chemistry 2e by Paul Flowers and others; “Ionic Electrolytes” and “Covalent Electrolytes”
The useful question is therefore not just whether a solute attracts a solvent, but how much the whole system gains after paying for the rearrangements. Solvation free energy describes a specified transfer into a solvent; solvation thermodynamic balance explains why even cooling during dissolution can accompany favorable mixing. The existing solubility discussion concerns how much remains dissolved at chemical equilibrium.
Space-charge-limited thermionic current Created 2026-10-18 Updated 2026-10-20
A space-charge-limited thermionic current occurs when the negative space charge of emitted electrons creates an electric field that obstructs further transport across the gap. Raising the emitter temperature may then increase the surface supply without producing the corresponding collector electric current. The gap geometry and collecting electric potential difference matter even when the surface is stable.
To distinguish this from an emission-limited thermionic current, vary the collecting electric potential difference at fixed emitter temperature, then repeat at another temperature. A voltage-dependent transport region followed by a collection plateau separates a gap constraint from a supply constraint. A weak collector electric current alone cannot establish a high work function. Nor does simply choosing a very large collecting electric potential difference guarantee a valid zero-field measurement: the surface barrier may then change.
SPEAR Mark I tau discovery experiment Created 2026-10-18 Updated 2026-10-25
Counterrotating electron and Positron beams at SPEAR collided inside the Mark I magnetic particle detector. Lead–scintillator scintillation counters identified electrons through large shower pulses; small pulses plus hits beyond the iron return identified muons.[ref]
The selection required opposite-charge electron–muon tracks, no detected photons, momenta above , and transverse noncoplanarity above . Multitrack hadron samples calibrated momentum-dependent misidentification; collinear lepton pairs checked identification losses. Photon and charge control samples tested backgrounds. Acceptance corrections depended on the proposed signal.[ref]
Evidence for Anomalous Lepton Production in e+ e- Annihilation by Martin Lewis Perl and others. SLAC-PUB-1626, pp. 3–5, Table I
The 1975 claim was anomalous events without a conventional explanation; new-particle pair production was a possible interpretation.[ref]
Evidence for Anomalous Lepton Production in e+ e- Annihilation by Martin Lewis Perl and others. Abstract; SLAC-PUB-1626, pp. 5–6
Martin Lewis Perl's lecture describes subsequent evidence for a charged lepton.[ref]The particle identification problem matters as much as the apparent missing four-momentum in electron-positron collisions. A penetrating hadron can imitate a muon; a particle shower can imitate an electron; an undetected photon or a detector gap can imitate invisible recoil. An absence of additional recorded signals is conditional on detection efficiency. In a proposed signal model, the selected count has the schematic formwhere is integrated collider luminosity, a cross section, and the combined acceptance and detection efficiency. A single count cannot determine all three factors. A control sample must probe the relevant momentum and angular range; its abundant events do not automatically calibrate a differently distributed signal.
SPEAR psi energy-scan experiment Created 2026-10-18 Updated 2026-10-20
At SPEAR, counterrotating electron and Positron beams collided inside a magnetic particle detector. Finer steps in stored-beam energy resolved a sharp production peak. A magnetometer and measured orbit positions monitored the energy settings; Bhabha scattering normalized the cross sections. The paper attributed the observed width to beam-energy spread and radiation effects, reporting an upper limit on intrinsic width. Its muon identification system was not functioning: the non-electron two-body excess was not conclusively a muon pair.[ref]
Discovery of a Narrow Resonance in e+e- Annihilation by J.-E. Augustin. Discovery of a Narrow Resonance in electron–positron Annihilation, pp. 1406–1408: scan, energy monitoring, normalization, width limit and two-body identification caveat
A scan must compare normalized production rates, since more selected events can result from more beam encounters or different detection efficiency. A proposed diagnostic is to revisit energies on either side of the peak while monitoring the energy calibration and event selection. Such neighboring settings test the local production background; their event totals alone are not an independent measurement of the intrinsic decay width.

