feynmandiagram
nounUK /ˈfaɪnmən ˈdaɪəɡræm/
US /ˈfaɪnmən ˈdaɪəɡræm/
A drawing with lines and squiggles that shows how tiny particles move and bump into each other.
The teacher drew a Feynman diagram on the board to show two electrons pushing apart.
OTHER MEANINGS
2. A tool physicists use to calculate how likely certain particle events are.
Using a Feynman diagram, she worked out the probability of the collision.
3. A visual shorthand in quantum field theory for mathematical expressions.
Each line in the Feynman diagram stands for a term in the equation.
4. A teaching aid that makes invisible particle interactions easier to imagine.
The textbook's Feynman diagram helped students picture the scattering process.