Does "the direction of the spin and the charge axis" mean "the direction of the spin and the charge axis the direction of the spin and the direction of the charge axis"?

Question

Context:

"The new interaction, whose effects we are studying does two things," Chupp said. "It produces the matter/antimatter asymmetry in the early universe and it aligns the direction of the spin and the charge axis in these pear-shaped nuclei."

More:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/05/130508172151.htm

CalifJim · Accepted Answer

Does "the direction of the spin and the charge axis" mean "the direction of the spin and the charge axis the direction of the spin and the direction of the charge axis"?

What? I don't think you wrote that correctly. Anyway, it's very difficult to read all that in the header, so next time please put all that information in the text of your question, not in the title.

I believe the writer means that the new interaction aligns the direction of the spin WITH the charge axis. "Axis" already implies a direction because it's a straight line. The idea is that the direction of the spin lines up with that axis.

That said, this is high-level particle physics, and not many people know what these things mean, so there might be another interpretation of that sentence.

CJ

Anonymous · Answer

Your question is hard to understand. I'm guessing that you missed out the word "or".

There is no difference between aligning something with an axis and aligning something with the direction of an axis. This is because the word "align" itself means match the direction of.

Does "the direction of the spin and the charge axis" mean "the direction of the spin and the charge axis the direction of the spin and the direction of the charge axis"?

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