In particle physics, the quenched approximation is an approximation often used in lattice gauge theory in which the quantum loops of fermions in Feynman diagrams are neglected. Equivalently, the corresponding one-loop determinants are set to one. This approximation is often forced upon the physicists because the calculation with the Grassmann numbers is computationally very difficult in lattice gauge theory.
Recent calculations typically avoid the quenched approximation.
Famous quotes containing the word quenched:
“Only if loves fire with the breath
Of life be kindled, I doubt,
With our last air ‘twill be breath’d out,
And quenched with the cold of death.”
—Edward Herbert (1583–1648)