Charm

charm, magical formula or incantation, spoken or sung, for the purpose of securing blessing, good fortune, or immunity from evil. It presupposes a belief in demons or malignant spirits. The formula was frequently inscribed upon an amulet, talisman, or trinket to be worn for protection.

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charm

In particle physics, the property or internal quantum number that is conserved in strong and electromagnetic interactions, but not in weak interactions (see strong force, electromagnetic force, weak force). Charmed particles contain at least one charmed quark; the charm number of these quarks is +1. Charmed antiquarks (see antimatter) have a charm number of −1. The first charmed particle was discovered in 1974.

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charm

Physics an internal quantum number of certain elementary particles, used to explain some scattering experiments

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charm [chärm]

(particle physics)

A quantum number which has been proposed to account for an apparent lack of symmetry in the behavior of hadrons relative to that of leptons, to explain why certain reactions of elementary particles do not occur, and to account for the longevity of the J-1 and J-2 particles.

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Charm

A term used to describe a class of elementary particles. Ordinary atoms of matter consist of a nucleus composed of neutrons and protons and surrounded by electrons. Over the years, however, a host of other particles with unexpected properties have been found, associated with both electrons (leptons) and protons (hadrons). The hadrons number in the hundreds, and can be explained as composites of more fundamental constituents, called quarks. The originally simple situation of having an up quark (u) and a down quark (d) has evolved as several more varieties or flavors have had to be added. These are the strange quark (s) with the additional property or quantum number of strangeness to account for the unexpected characteristics of a family of strange particles; the charm quark (c) possessing charm and no strangeness, to explain the discovery of the J/ψ particles, massive states three times heavier than the proton; and a fifth quark (b) to explain the existence of the even more massive upsilon (γ) particles. See Hadron, Quarks

The members of the family of particles associated with charm fall into two classes: those with hidden charm, where the states are a combination of charm and anticharm quarks (cc), charmonium; and those where the charm property is clearly evident, such as the D⁺ (cd) meson and &Lgr;_c⁺ (cud) baryon. Although reasonable progress has been made in the study of charmed states, much work remains to be done. See Elementary particle

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(language)

CHARM - An explicitly parallel programming language based on C, for both shared and nonshared MIMD computers. ftp://a.cs.uiuc.edu/pub/CHARM. Mailing list: <charm@cs.uiuc.edu>. ["The CHARM(3.2) Programming Language Manual", UIUC, Dec 1992].

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Charm 

an incantation, in the creative oral tradition of various peoples, a formula of words that, according to superstition, has magical power. In ancient times charms were associated with magical occurrences; later the incantations themselves acquired magical significance. Hunters, fishermen, shepherds, farmers, and tradesmen had their own charms. There were also charms that placed spells on iniquitous judges. Many charms are used as protection from illness. There are numerous love charms that are believed to make people fall in and out of love. Charms reflect various aspects of the economic, social, and spiritual life of the peoples of the world. The artistic poetic quality and rich language of charms establish them as a form of verbal folk art.

REFERENCES

Maikov, L. Velikorusskie zaklinaniia. St. Petersburg, 1869.
Eleonskaia, E. K izucheniiu zagovora i koldovstvci v Rossii. [Moscow] 1917.
Poznanskii, N. Zagovory. Petrograd, 1917.