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Isotopic Spin

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isotopic spin

[¦ī·sə¦täp·ik ′spin]
(nuclear physics)
A quantum-mechanical variable, resembling the angular momentum vector in algebraic structure whose third component distinguished between members of groups of elementary particles, such as the nucleons, which apparently behave in the same way with respect to strong nuclear forces, but have different charges. Also known as isobaric spin; isospin; i-spin.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Isotopic Spin

 

one of the characteristics of strongly interacting particles that determines (together with other characteristics—mass, spin, and baryon charge) whether or not the particle belongs to a group of particles with similar properties (but with different electric charges) that participate identically in strong interactions. (See ISOTOPIC INVARIANCE.)

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
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