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exclusion principle

American  

noun

Physics.
  1. the principle that in any system described by quantum mechanics no two identical particles having spin equal to half an odd integer can be in the same quantum state: first postulated for the electrons in atoms.


exclusion principle British  

noun

  1. See Pauli exclusion principle

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

exclusion principle Scientific  
/ ĭk-sklo̅o̅zhən /

Etymology

Origin of exclusion principle

First recorded in 1925–30

Example Sentences

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See Examples For:

Understanding the origin of Pauli’s exclusion principle would unlock explanations for all of these deep facts of quotidian life.

From Scientific American Nov. 22, 2022

Pauli’s exclusion principle was merely a special case of this spin-statistics theorem, as it came to be known.

From Scientific American Nov. 22, 2022

Explain what would happen if the competitive exclusion principle were violated.

From Textbooks Jun. 9, 2022

The Pauli exclusion principle can be formulated as follows: No two electrons in the same atom can have exactly the same set of all the four quantum numbers.

From Textbooks Feb. 14, 2019

As pressure in the star increases, the exclusion principle states that electrons inside must move faster and faster to avoid one another.

From "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" by Charles Seife

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