Is the electron a fundamental particle?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the nature of the electron as a fundamental particle, particularly in light of recent findings regarding quasiparticles such as holons, spinons, and orbitons. Participants explore the implications of these quasiparticles on the understanding of electrons, their properties, and whether electrons can still be considered fundamental particles. The scope includes theoretical considerations, experimental findings, and conceptual clarifications.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Conceptual clarification
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • One participant references an article discussing the splitting of electrons into quasiparticles—holons, spinons, and orbitons—and questions the nature and functionality of these quasiparticles.
  • Another participant asserts that the electron is a fundamental particle, without providing further elaboration.
  • A later reply expresses confusion regarding the classification of quasiparticles as real particles or merely separated quantum properties, highlighting the ambiguity in terminology.
  • Another participant discusses the distinction between fundamental particles and quasiparticles, suggesting that the concept of "particle" can be ambiguous in quantum field theories and that some theories predict fundamental particles may not be truly fundamental.
  • Analogies are provided, such as comparing quasiparticles to waves in a medium and the concept of electrical "holes," to clarify how these entities can behave similarly to particles.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express differing views on whether the electron remains a fundamental particle in light of the existence of quasiparticles. While some assert the electron is fundamental, others raise questions about the implications of quasiparticle behavior, indicating a lack of consensus on the topic.

Contextual Notes

The discussion reflects limitations in understanding the definitions and implications of fundamental particles versus quasiparticles, as well as the unresolved nature of whether electrons can be considered fundamental in the context of recent experimental findings.

Ostrados
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According to this article an electron can be split into 3 quasiparticles:
  • ‘holon’ carrying the electron’s charge
  • ‘spinon’ carrying its spin
  • ‘orbiton’ carrying its orbital location
The article links to an experiment that was made in 2012, where physicists were able detect the spinion and the orbiton after splitting electrons, here is the link to the original paper:
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v485/n7396/full/nature10974.html

My questions:
1- What are these mentioned quasiparticles? And how do they work?! a particle that carries spin separately and another one carrying the location, I cannot understand how this works!

2- Are these real particles or just separated quantum properties (which is even weirder explanation)? In the article it is mentioned that these particles can move in different direction and speed.

3- Is the electron still a fundamental particle?

4- Are there new research advancements on this subject?
 
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ZapperZ said:
Please start by reading posts related to this:

https://www.physicsforums.com/threa...o-have-been-experimented.795330/#post-4997166
https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/quasi-particles-how-typical-are-they.792025/#post-4975707
https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/quasiparticles-of-quantum-mechanics.80512/#post-619236

Electron is a fundamental particle.

Zz.

Thanks it is more clear now for me.

This part from the article made me confused, thinking that they are real particles:
These quasiparticles can move with different speeds and even in different directions in the material
 
Ostrados said:
This part from the article made me confused, thinking that they are real particles:
This is a really common ambiguity in how people use the word 'particle'. In addition to the fundamental particles of the Standard Model, quantum field theories are also used to describe quasiparticles such as these and phonons. Since it's unclear whether or not the "fundamental particles" are truly fundamental, and plenty of BSM theories predict they aren't, there isn't always a clear distinction between these two concepts.

I like to think of these in classical terms, as waves in a medium. For example, phonons are just quantized sound waves. There is no single particle that makes them up, but they are discrete packets of energy that can be described as particles.

Another analogy is the concept of electrical "holes" (where holon got its name, I'm sure). If you have a collection of evenly spaced charges and remove one, you can treat that hole as a particle with the opposite charge. It will act almost exactly the same, and is a much simpler way of thinking about it. When discussing electrical currents this is a common trick, where the current can be described as positive charges moving in the opposite direction as the electrons
 

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