I would like to clear my concept about half integer spin. Spin Quantum number, we learned are given the values of +1/2 and -1/2 to show their direction. But now I am confused about some other values like 3/2, 5/2 etc. Can anyone please explain?
Tapio Ala-Nissila
Fermions have half-integer spins (because of antisymmetry of the total wave function) and bosons have integer spin values. When you add up 1/2 spins from individual fermions quantum-mechanically (as in a nucleus consisting of many protons, or particles comprising quarks), you can of course get total spin values larger than 1/2 (e.g. 3/2 for Delta baryons, where all the 3 quark spins line up). Wiki has (again!) a good summary of this, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spin_(physics).
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