https://doi.org/10.1351/goldbook.08863
Discrete disorder in a multi-particulate system that exhibits particle-specific behavior and properties.
Notes:
- A real particle can exist by itself, out of other real particles, while a quasiparticle cannot. It exists only within a multi-particulate system, like a gas bubble inside water or beer. It looks and behaves like a particle, but it does not exist outside liquid. Such a bubble is a macroscopic quasiparticle.
- Characteristics typical of particles, such as the mass (referred to as effective mass), momentum, energy, velocity, mobility and ability to undergo collisions can be assigned to quasiparticles.
- Examples of quasiparticles related to electromagnetic field responsive materials are electron hole, exciton, magnon, phonon, plasmon, polaron and soliton.
- There are two main classes of quasiparticles:
- those of the excitation type whose motion corresponds to a motion of individual particles interacting with other parts of the system; examples are exciton, hole, soliton and polaron;
- those that originate from a synchronized collective motion of the whole system, referred to as collective excitations or collective modes; examples are magnon, plasmon and phonon.