axion

See also: áxion

English

Etymology

Coined by American physicist Frank Wilczek in 1978 after Axion, a brand of laundry detergent, for its -on suffix and the notion that the new particle could "clean up" a problem in physics.

Noun

axion (plural axions)

1. (physics) A hypothetical subatomic particle postulated to resolve certain symmetry problems concerning the strong nuclear force.
   • 2000 Summer/Fall, John Clarke, Superconductivity: A Macroscopic Quantum Phenomenon, Rene Donaldson, Bill Kirk (editors), Beam Line, Volume 30, Number 2, Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, page 47,

     The axion is a candidate particle for the cold dark matter that constitutes a large fraction of the mass of the Universe.

   • 2000, Steven Weinberg, The Quantum Theory of Fields, volume 3, Supersymmetry, page 375:

     In summary, the first version of gravity-mediated supersymmetry breaking has the advantage of giving an axion mass that is within cosmological bounds, while the second version has the advantage of giving the gauginos masses that are comparable to the masses of the squarks and sleptons.

   • 2013, Adrian C. Melissinos, Reminiscences: A Journey Through Particle Physics, page 93:

     Let us begin with a disclaimer: axions, a, have been conjectured to exist on theoretical grounds, but have not as yet been observed. They are supposed to be very light particles that interact very weakly with matter.

   • 2015, Paul Seidel, editor, Applied Superconductivity: Handbook on Devices and Applications, page 857:

     Theoretical considerations appear to indicate that the axion mass should be somewhere between the microelectron volt and millielectron volt range.

Derived terms

• axionic
• axionlike
• axiverse
• axizilla
• saxion

 

Translations

hypothetical subatomic particle

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 軸子 / 轴子 (zh) (zhòuzi)

• Finnish: aksioni (fi)
• French: axion (fr) m
• Gujarati: અક્ષાણુ m (akṣāṇu)
• Hindi: अक्षाणु m (akṣāṇu)
• Ido: axiono
• Japanese: アクシオン (akushion)
• Khmer: អក្ស៊ីអុង (ak si ong)
• Marathi: अक्षाणू m (akṣāṇū)
• Nepali: अक्षाणु (akṣāṇu)
• Portuguese: áxion m (Brazil), axião m (Portugal)
• Russian: аксио́н (ru) m (aksión)
• Sanskrit: अक्षाणु (akṣāṇu)

Anagrams

• anxio-, axino

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ak.sjɔ̃/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Homophone: action

Noun

axion m (plural axions)

1. axion

Further reading

• “axion”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from Greek αξιόν (axión).

Noun

axion n (plural axioane)

1. an Orthodox hymn

Declension

	singular			plural
	indefinite	definite		indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	axion	axionul		axioane	axioanele
genitive-dative	axion	axionului		axioane	axioanelor
vocative	axionule			axioanelor

References

• axion in Academia Română, Micul dicționar academic, ediția a II-a, Bucharest: Univers Enciclopedic, 2010. →ISBN