Spherical harmonics for fractional quantum numbers l=1/n

TL;DR

This paper introduces fractional quantum numbers for spherical harmonics, proposing new solutions with fractional angular momentum and spin, challenging traditional integer-based quantum numbers and suggesting three classes of particles with distinct spin and interaction properties.

Contribution

It proposes spherical harmonics with fractional quantum numbers L=1/n, expanding the concept of angular momentum in quantum mechanics beyond integer values.

Findings

Introduces spherical harmonics Y for L=1/n, including 1/2, 1/3, 1/4, 1/5, etc.

Predicts three classes of particles with different spin and interaction behaviors.

Suggests fractional spin states could explain properties of electrons and protons.

Abstract

The angular momentum quantum number L of spherical harmonic Y_l_,_m based on an associated Legendre polynomial is nonnegative integer 0 1 2 ... and must never be a fraction. But the study in this paper found that the quantum number L corresponding to other series of solutions of the associated Legendre equation should be fractions. This paper not only proposed the spherical harmonics Y for L=1/2, but also spherical harmonics Y for L = 1/n = 1/3 1/4 1/5 ... In addition to the spin s=1/2 of electron-like particles, the fractional spin such as 1/3, 1/4, 1/5,...were boldly speculated to be verified in this paper. Setting the spin of a particle with only two spin components of up and down to s = 1/2 is not necessarily correct. Based on the symmetry of the plots of Ys, three different spin classes of particles are predicted. The first class of particles s = 1/2 1/6 ... resembles electrons, particles with the parallel spins tend to move away from each other, and the second class of particles s = 1/3 1/5 ... does not repel each other regardless of whether their spins are parallel or not, and the third class of particles s = 1/4 1/8 ... always repels each other and tend to move away regardless of whether their spins are parallel or not. The use of fractional spin can be well illustrated for electrons and protons as reported in the literature. This view may be important for the study of quantum mechanics and elementary practices.