Keywords:
Symmetry-Popular works.
;
Electronic books.
Description / Table of Contents:
When scientists peer through a telescope at the distant stars in outer space or use a particle-accelerator to analyze the smallest components of matter, they discover that the same laws of physics govern the whole universe at all times and all places. Physicists call the eternal, ubiquitous constancy of the laws of physics symmetry.Nobel Laureate Leon M. Lederman and physicist Christopher T. Hill explain the supremely elegant concept of symmetry and all its profound ramifications to life on Earth and the universe at large in this eloquent, accessible popular science book. They not only clearly describe concepts normally reserved for physicists and mathematicians, but they also instill an appreciation for the profound beauty of the universe's inherent design.Central to the story of symmetry is an obscure, unpretentious, but extremely gifted German mathematician named Emmy Noether. In some of her earliest work she proved that the law of the conservation of energy was connected to the idea of symmetry and thus laid the mathematical groundwork for what may be the most important concept of modern physics.Lederman and Hill reveal concepts about the universe, based on Noether's work, that are largely unknown to the public and have wide-reaching implications in connection with the Big Bang, Einstein's theory of relativity, quantum mechanics, and many other areas of physics. Through ingenious analogies and illustrations, they bring these astounding notions to life. This book will open your eyes to a universe you never knew existed.Leon M. Lederman, Nobel Laureate (Aurora, IL), is the Resident Scholar for the Great Minds Program of the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy, Director Emeritus of the Fermi National Accelerator laboratory, the Pritzker Professor of Science at the Illinois Institute of Technology, the author of the highly acclaimed The God
Type of Medium:
Online Resource
Pages:
1 online resource (378 pages)
Edition:
1st ed.
ISBN:
9781615920419
URL:
https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/geomar/detail.action?docID=5820109
DDC:
500
Language:
English
Note:
Intro -- Cover -- Title Page -- Copyright -- Dedication -- Praise for Symmetry and the Beautiful Universe -- Contents -- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS -- INTRODUCTION: WHAT IS SYMMETRY? -- Symmetry in Music -- Earth Is Round -- Symmetry in Mathematics and Physics -- A Tribute to Emmy Noether -- CHAPTER 1: CHILDREN OF THE TITANS -- The Evolution of the Universe and Its Metaphors -- The Titans -- Götterdämmerung: Twilight of the Titans -- Earth -- Oklo -- Stability of the Laws of Physics -- CHAPTER 2: TIME AND ENERGY -- It Can't Happen Here -- But What Is Energy? -- The Looming Energy Crisis -- CHAPTER 3: EMMY NOETHER -- Mathematics versus Physics -- The Life and Times of Emmy Noether -- Symmetry and Physics -- CHAPTER 4: SYMMETRY, SPACE, AND TIME -- Gedankenlab -- Spatial Translations -- Time Translations -- Rotations -- The Symmetry of Motion -- "Global" versus "Local" -- CHAPTER 5: NOETHER'S THEOREM -- Conservation Laws in Elementary Physics -- Conservation of Momentum -- Conservation of Energy -- Conservation of Angular Momentum -- CHAPTER 6: INERTIA -- A Brief History of Inertia, Symmetry, and Our Solar System -- Noticing Inertia -- The Union of Symmetry, Inertia, and the Laws of Physics -- Newton's Laws of Motion -- Acceleration -- Gravity -- CHAPTER 7: RELATIVITY -- The Speed of Light -- The Speed of Light as Seen by Moving Observers -- The Principle of Relativity -- The Overthrow of the Relativity of Galileo -- The Relativity of Einstein -- The Bizarre Effects of Special Relativity -- Energy and Momentum in Special Relativity -- General Relativity -- CHAPTER 8: REFLECTIONS -- Reflection Symmetry -- Parity Symmetry and the Laws of Physics -- The Overthrow of Parity Symmetry -- Time Reversal Symmetry -- Time Reversal Invariance and Antimatter -- Putting It All Together: CPT -- CHAPTER 9: BROKEN SYMMETRY -- A Pencil on Its Tip -- Magnets.
,
Spontaneous Symmetry Breaking throughout Nature -- Cosmic Inflation -- CHAPTER 10: QUANTUM MECHANICS -- Is Light a Particle or a Wave? -- Quantum Theory Becomes Ever More Curious -- The Uncertainty Principle -- The Wave Function -- A Bound State -- Spin and Orbital Angular Momentum in Quantum Theory -- The Symmetry of Identical Particles -- Exchange Symmetry, Stability of Matter and All of Chemistry -- Quantum Theory Meets Special Relativity: Antimatter -- CHAPTER 11: THE HIDDEN SYMMETRY OF LIGHT -- Hints of a Symmetry -- Local Gauge Invariance -- The Quantum Process of Radiation: QED -- Feynman Diagrams -- Toward Unifying All Forces in Nature -- CHAPTER 12: QUARKS AND LEPTONS -- Inside the Atom of the Mid-twentieth Century -- Quarks -- The Standard Model of Particles and Forces -- The Strong Force Is a Gauge Symmetry -- The Weak Force -- Enter the Higgs Field -- Beyond the Higgs Boson: Supersymmetry? -- Philosophical Comments -- AN EPILOGUE FOR EDUCATORS -- APPENDIX: SYMMETRY GROUPS -- The Mathematics of Symmetry -- A Simple Problem on Sherman's SAT -- Continuous Symmetry Groups -- NOTES -- INDEX -- BACK COVER.
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