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Quasiparticle
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===General introduction=== [[Solid]]s are made of only three kinds of [[particle physics|particles]]: [[electron]]s, [[proton]]s, and [[neutron]]s. None of these are quasiparticles; instead a quasiparticle is an ''[[emergent phenomenon]]'' that occurs inside the solid. Therefore, while it is quite possible to have a single particle (electron, proton, or neutron) floating in space, a quasiparticle can only exist inside interacting many-particle systems such as solids. Motion in a solid is extremely complicated: Each electron and proton is pushed and pulled (by [[Coulomb's law]]) by all the other electrons and protons in the solid (which may themselves be in motion). It is these strong interactions that make it very difficult to predict and understand the behavior of solids (see [[many-body problem]]). On the other hand, the motion of a ''non-interacting'' classical particle is relatively simple; it would move in a straight line at constant velocity. This is the motivation for the concept of quasiparticles: The complicated motion of the ''real'' particles in a solid can be mathematically transformed into the much simpler motion of imagined quasiparticles, which behave more like non-interacting particles. In summary, quasiparticles are a mathematical tool for simplifying the description of solids.
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