multipletn.
/ˈmʌltᵻplᵻt/, U.S. /ˈməltəplᵻt/ 1. A set of more than three or four similar things.
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1856 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 146 414 The result is a paradigm of the figure and its sympolar. The horizontal multiplets will be the faces, denoted by their edges, the vertical ones the summits.
1882 Amer. Jrnl. Math. 5 92 I think I see looming..such a proof, depending ultimately upon the fact of a certain succession of increasing integer multiplets..not being capable of being indefinitely produced.
1918 Proc. Royal Soc. B. 90 121 The spicules of the rachis are..thin, flat plates..frequently divided by lines into twins, triplets, quadruplets, and multiplets.
1979 M. Matshoba Call me not Man 163 Young men like identical multiplets, all wearing starched new overalls, yellow golf caps, yellow duster bandanas.
1990 Brain 113 1373 In addition to rhythmically occurring duplets and multiplets, short and long bursts that occur irregularly..have been described.
2. Physics.
a. A group of lines in a spectrum that are close together and spaced approximately in accordance with a simple rule; a group of related levels in an atom that differ slightly in energy, esp. a group in which this is due to differing relative orientations either of the electronic spin and orbital angular momenta, giving different values of the quantum number J (in the case of fine structure), or of the electronic and nuclear angular momenta, giving different values of the quantum number F (in the case of hyperfine structure).
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the world > matter > physics > atomic physics > decomposition of light, spectrum > [noun] > lines reflecting energy levels > group placed close together
multiplet1920
1920 W. M. Hicks in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) A. 220 341 Since Δ2 is a known multiple of the oun (determined by the S multiplet separations), the oun is also known to the same degree of accuracy.
1923 M. A. Catalán in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) A. 223 147 As will be seen later there are many ‘groups’ of lines in the manganese spectrum with similar structure to that of the foregoing ‘group’, and for this form of regularity the name ‘multiplet’ is suggested.
1929 Trans. Faraday Soc. 25 672 The coupling between spin momenta of the electrons gave a ‘resultant’ spin vector S, which determined the multiplicity... Finally, the components of a multiplet were regarded as determined by the coupling between the resultant L vector and the resultant S vector.
1942 J. D. Stranathan ‘Particles’ of Mod. Physics vi. 224 The details of fine structure differ from one element to another, both as regards the number of lines in the multiplet and the spacing of these lines.
1967 W. R. Hindmarsh Atomic Spectra v. 50 A quantum number F can be ascribed to each hyperfine level such that the number increases by one from one level to the next and..the separation between two successive levels is..AF where A is a constant for a hyperfine multiplet.
1971 A. G. Sharkey in R. I. Reed Recent Topics Mass Spectrometry 128 High-resolution mass spectrometry is unique in providing a precise mass from which a molecular formula can be derived. The basis of the high-resolution technique is the ability of the instrument to resolve multiplets, having the same nominal mass but differing in precise mass.
1992 S. P. Maran Astron. & Astrophysics Encycl. 3/1 Broad Fe ii emissions from many blended multiplets appears to be universally present in Seyferts with broad line components.
2001 Nucl. Physics A. 683 48 Angular distributions for..the multiplet of states around 6 MeV in 10Be were measured.
b. A group of subatomic particles that are alike as regards the values of the various quantum numbers except for the third component of isospin (and hence charge), which is different for each particle and has one of the 2I + 1 values 0, ±½, ±1,…, ±I (I = 0 or half-integral). Also: a larger group (also called a supermultiplet) composed of a number of such charge multiplets, each likewise characterized by a different value of hypercharge (or strangeness) but having the same spin and the same parity.In quot. 1937 more an extended use of sense 2a.
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the world > matter > physics > quantum theory > electron spin > multiplet > [noun]
singlet1937
multiplet1954
1937 Physical Rev. 51 106 The structure of the multiplets of nuclear terms is investigated, using as a first approximation a Hamiltonian which does not involve the ordinary spin and corresponds to equal forces between all nuclear constituents, protons and neutrons. The multiplets turn out to have a rather complicated structure, instead of the S of atomic spectroscopy, one has three quantum numbers S, T, Y.]
1954 Proc. National Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 40 490 In discussing baryon states we used the intuitive argument of approximate mass degeneracy in a multiplet.
1956 J. Schwinger in Physical Rev. 104 1164/2 We shall term this new property hyper(onic) charge Y, with Y = +1 characterizing the K+K0 multiplet.
1965 New Scientist 18 Mar. 738/3 The SU(3) symmetry relates not just the proton and neutron one to another, but includes also in one multiplet the six particles known as hyperons.
1973 L. J. Tassie Physics Elem. Particles xi. 134 The arrangement of N, Λ, Σ and Ξ into one multiplet, an octet.., is illustrated.
1987 I. R. Kenyon Elem. Particle Physics xii. 246 The basic supermultiplets for simple supersymmetry have a ‘gauge’ multiplet with spin content (1, 1/ 2) and a ‘chiral’ multiplet with spin content (1/ 2, 0).
2000 Physical Rev. D. 62 055002-1 The standard formulation..involves scalars transforming as a triplet under SU(2)L. This multiplet contains particles which are uncharged, singly charged, and doubly charged.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2003; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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