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charge operators
In physics, a charge is any of many different quantities, such as the electric charge in electromagnetism or the color charge in quantum chromodynamics. Charges correspond to the time-invariant generators of a symmetry group, and specifically, to the generators that commute with the Hamiltonian. Charges are often denoted by
Q
{\displaystyle Q}
, and so the invariance of the charge corresponds to the vanishing commutator
[
Q
,
H
]
=
0
{\displaystyle [Q,H]=0}
, where
H
{\displaystyle H}
is the Hamiltonian. Thus, charges are associated with conserved quantum numbers; these are the eigenvalues of the generator
Q
{\displaystyle Q}
. A "charge" can also refer to a point-shaped object with an electric charge and a position, such as in the method of image charges.
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