Slater determinant

English

Etymology

Named after John C. Slater, who introduced the determinant in 1929 as a means of ensuring the antisymmetry of a many-electron wavefunction, although the wavefunction in the determinant form first appeared independently in Heisenberg's and Dirac's articles three years earlier.

Noun

Slater determinant (plural Slater determinants)

1. (quantum mechanics) An expression that describes the wavefunction of a multifermionic system. It satisfies antisymmetry requirements, and consequently the Pauli exclusion principle, by changing sign upon exchange of two electrons (or other fermions).