Fermions and bosons

Particle Physics 3: Supersymmetry and Grand Unification (Spring, 2010)

April 5, 2010

Professor Susskind starts with the topic of rotations, showing that particles under rotation by 2π either return to their initial state (wavefunction) or to their initial wavefunction multiplied by a phase of -1. The first case corresponds to bosons and the second to fermions. He then uses this difference to show that bosons contribute positively to vacuum energy and fermions contribute negatively.

Topics: 
  • Rotation of particles with spin
  • Fermions and bosons
  • Contributions to vacuum energy
  • Do fermions and bosons come in pairs?