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In physics, the stability of matter refers to the ability of a large number of charged particles, such as electrons and protons, to form macroscopic objects without collapsing or blowing apart due to electromagnetic interactions. Classical physics predicts that such systems should be inherently unstable due to attractive and repulsive electrostatic forces between charges, and thus the stability of matter was a theoretical problem that required a quantum mechanical explanation.
The first solution to this problem was provided by Freeman Dyson and Andrew Lenard in 1967–1968,[1][2] but a shorter and more conceptual proof was found later by Elliott Lieb and Walter Thirring in 1975 using the Lieb–Thirring inequality.[3] The stability of matter is partly due to the uncertainty principle and the Pauli exclusion principle.[4]
- ^ Dyson, Freeman J.; Lenard, A. (March 1967). "Stability of Matter. I". Journal of Mathematical Physics. 8 (3): 423–434. Bibcode:1967JMP.....8..423D. doi:10.1063/1.1705209.
- ^ Lenard, A.; Dyson, Freeman J. (May 1968). "Stability of Matter. II". Journal of Mathematical Physics. 9 (5): 698–711. Bibcode:1968JMP.....9..698L. doi:10.1063/1.1664631.
- ^ Lieb, Elliott H.; Thirring, Walter E. (15 September 1975). "Bound for the Kinetic Energy of Fermions Which Proves the Stability of Matter". Physical Review Letters. 35 (11): 687–689. Bibcode:1975PhRvL..35..687L. doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.35.687.
- ^ Marder, Michael P. (2010-11-17). Condensed Matter Physics. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-0-470-94994-8.