# Uhmwhat is a constant with a verticle slash though it? heh

1. Oct 24, 2004

### QuantumTheory

Alright, this equation is just BIZARRE and amazes me yet makes me feel incredibly stupid at once.

$${\cal L}_R = \sum_{i=1}^G \bar{E}^i_R(i\kern+0.1em /\kern-0.55em \partial - g_1Y_E \kern+0.1em /\kern-0.65em B)E^i_R + \bar{D}^i_R(i\kern+0.1em /\kern-0.65em D - g_1Y_D \kern+0.1em /\kern-0.65em B)D^i_R + \bar{U}^i_R(i\kern+0.15em /\kern-0.65em D - g_1Y_U \kern+0.1em /\kern-0.65em B)U^i_R$$

......

Anyone feel like explaning what it means? Is it a REAL EQUATION or just random stuff put together?
?

2. Oct 24, 2004

### Galileo

Where'd you get that?

It may mean something if we knew what those slashed-through symbols mean.
The expressions in parentheses could be operators, since it's sandwiched between something and (possibly) it's complex conjugate.

Slashing through symbols is an unusual practice though, so my guess is that it's bogus.

3. Oct 24, 2004

Dirac often used the "inner product" of a spacetime vector with his four 4X4 complex matrices (presented as $$(\gamma_0, \gamma_1, \gamma_2\, \gamma_3)$$). As shorthand, he wrote the symbol for this as the letter for the spacetime vector with a slash throught it. Of course in each "inner product" term, the matrix is really acting on the vector.