supersymmetry

American  

[soo-per-sim-i-tree] / ˈsu pərˈsɪm ɪ tri /

noun

Physics.

1. a hypothetical symmetry among groups of particles containing fermions and bosons, especially in theories of gravity supergravity that unify electromagnetism, the weak force, and the strong force with gravity into a single unified force.

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supersymmetry British  

/ ˌsuːpəˈsɪmɪtrɪ /

noun

1. physics a symmetry of elementary particles having a higher order than that in the standard model, postulated to encompass the behaviour of both bosons and fermions

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supersymmetry Scientific  

/ so̅o̅′pər-sĭm′ĭ-trē /

1. A theory of physics that states that for each boson (a subatomic particle that carries a fundamental force, such as the photon, which carries the electromagnetic force) there is a corresponding fermion with the same mass. The theory is an attempt to unify the fundamental forces of matter under one theory. Supersymmetry has not been shown to hold in the real world, though some scientists suspect that evidence for it may be found only at extremely high energies; some also believe that certain particles predicted by the theory may make up dark matter.

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Etymology

Origin of supersymmetry

First recorded in 1970–75; super- + symmetry

Example Sentences

None of particles predicted by supersymmetry, a concept that posits a more massive “superpartner” exists for every particle in the standard model.

From Science Magazine • Mar. 27, 2024

So we’re like deer in the headlights: We didn’t find supersymmetry, we didn’t find dark matter as a particle.

From New York Times • Jan. 24, 2023

The theoretical concept known as supersymmetry would supply such particles.

From Science Magazine • Jun. 12, 2022

In the early 1970s several researchers independently proposed that bosons and fermions might be related to one another via a fundamental symmetry called supersymmetry.

From Scientific American • Aug. 6, 2019

But Sabine Hossenfelder, a theoretical physicist at the Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies in Germany, warns that the LHC’s failure to find supersymmetry particles deals a near fatal blow to supergravity’s chances of being true.

From Nature • Aug. 5, 2019