ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Spinor calculus

Spinor calculus is like counting with strange numbers that can spin. Imagine you have some toys that can spin around and around. Now imagine that instead of toys, you have some special numbers that can spin like toys. These special numbers are called spinors.

Spinors are different from regular numbers because they can spin around in different directions. It's like a compass needle that can point in any direction, not just north. But these spinors are even stranger than the compass needle because they can also point in opposite directions.

Now, using these spinors, we can do some special counting called spinor calculus. It's like regular counting, but we have to be careful because these spinors can change direction and we need to keep track of that. It's a bit like following a maze, where we have to turn left, right, and sometimes even backwards.

But why do we need spinor calculus? Well, sometimes in physics, we need to study things that spin, like particles or even black holes. To understand how they spin, we need to use these special spinors and the calculus that goes along with them.

So, spinor calculus is a special way of counting using strange numbers that can spin in different directions, and we use it to study things in physics that also spin.