Astrophysics (Index) | About |
A quasiparticle is a type of disturbance or set of oscillations/vibrations that at a quantum-mechanical-level, show characteristics of a particle such as movement while remaining intact, and adhering to a characterization using quantum numbers. It is not an elementary particle nor a combination of them (hadron), but a quantum of some particular type of vibration or oscillation. Examples are a phonon, a quantum of a type of a vibration (like sound) in a crystal, and a plasmon, a quantum of plasma oscillation.