The Force of Symmetry
Author: Vincent Icke
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 1995
Total Pages: 368
ISBN-13: 9780521455916
DOWNLOAD EBOOKAn elementary introduction to the interplay between quantum mechanics, relativity, and symmetry.
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Symmetry and the Beautiful Universe
Author: Leon M. Lederman
Publisher: Prometheus Books
Published: 2011-11-29
Total Pages: 363
ISBN-13: 1615920412
DOWNLOAD EBOOKWhen 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. Symmetry is the basic underlying principle that defines the laws of nature and hence controls the universe. This all-important insight is one of the great conceptual breakthroughs in modern physics and is the basis of contemporary efforts to discover a grand unified theory to explain all the laws of physics. 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 only 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. Though still little known to the world, she impressed no less a scientist than Albert Einstein, who praised her "penetrating mathematical thinking." 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.
Fearful Symmetry
Author: A. Zee
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Published: 2015-10-01
Total Pages: 376
ISBN-13: 1400874505
DOWNLOAD EBOOKAn engaging exploration of beauty in physics, with a foreword by Nobel Prize–winning physicist Roger Penrose The concept of symmetry has widespread manifestations and many diverse applications—from architecture to mathematics to science. Yet, as twentieth-century physics has revealed, symmetry has a special, central role in nature, one that is occasionally and enigmatically violated. Fearful Symmetry brings the incredible discoveries of the juxtaposition of symmetry and asymmetry in contemporary physics within everyone's grasp. A. Zee, a distinguished physicist and skillful expositor, tells the exciting story of how contemporary theoretical physicists are following Einstein in their search for the beauty and simplicity of Nature. Animated by a sense of reverence and whimsy, Fearful Symmetry describes the majestic sweep and accomplishments of twentieth-century physics—one of the greatest chapters in the intellectual history of humankind.
Timeless Reality
Author: Victor J. Stenger
Publisher: Prometheus Books
Published: 2009-12-02
Total Pages: 396
ISBN-13: 1615922288
DOWNLOAD EBOOKA professor of physics and astronomy studies a theory that time is reversible, and explains how physicists have generally been reluctant to accept the reversibility of time because of the implied causal paradoxes. Illustrations.
Physics from Symmetry
Author: Jakob Schwichtenberg
Publisher: Springer
Published: 2017-12-01
Total Pages: 294
ISBN-13: 3319666312
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThis is a textbook that derives the fundamental theories of physics from symmetry. It starts by introducing, in a completely self-contained way, all mathematical tools needed to use symmetry ideas in physics. Thereafter, these tools are put into action and by using symmetry constraints, the fundamental equations of Quantum Mechanics, Quantum Field Theory, Electromagnetism, and Classical Mechanics are derived. As a result, the reader is able to understand the basic assumptions behind, and the connections between the modern theories of physics. The book concludes with first applications of the previously derived equations. Thanks to the input of readers from around the world, this second edition has been purged of typographical errors and also contains several revised sections with improved explanations.
Crystallography and the World of Symmetry
Author: Sanat K. Chatterjee
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Published: 2008-09-19
Total Pages: 156
ISBN-13: 354069899X
DOWNLOAD EBOOKSymmetry exists in realms from crystals to patterns, in external shapes of living or non-living objects, as well as in the fundamental particles and the physical laws that govern them. In fact, the search for this symmetry is the driving force for the discovery of many fundamental particles and the formulation of many physical laws. While one can not imagine a world which is absolutely symmetrical nor can one a world which is absolutely asymmetrical. These two aspects of nature are intermingled with each other inseparably. This is the basis of the existence of aperiodicity manifested in the liquid crystals and also quasi-crystals also discussed in “Crystallography and the World of Symmetry”.
Symmetries and Conservation Laws in Particle Physics
Author: Stephen Haywood
Publisher: World Scientific
Published: 2011
Total Pages: 167
ISBN-13: 1848166591
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThis book will explain how group theory underpins some of the key features of particle physics. It will examine symmetries and conservation laws in quantum mechanics and relate these to groups of transformations. Group theory provides the language for describing how particles (and in particular, their quantum numbers) combine. This provides understanding of hadronic physics as well as physics beyond the Standard Model. The symmetries of the Standard Model associated with the Electroweak and Strong (QCD) forces are described by the groups U(1), SU(2) and SU(3). The properties of these groups are examined and the relevance to particle physics is discussed.Stephen Haywood, author of Symmetries And Conservation Laws In Particle Physics, explains how his book can help experimental physicists and PhD students understand group theory and particle physics in our new video View the interview at http: //www.youtube.com/watch'v=jbQk78TBLS
Galileo Unbound
Author: David D. Nolte
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: 2018-07-12
Total Pages: 384
ISBN-13: 0192528505
DOWNLOAD EBOOKGalileo Unbound traces the journey that brought us from Galileo's law of free fall to today's geneticists measuring evolutionary drift, entangled quantum particles moving among many worlds, and our lives as trajectories traversing a health space with thousands of dimensions. Remarkably, common themes persist that predict the evolution of species as readily as the orbits of planets or the collapse of stars into black holes. This book tells the history of spaces of expanding dimension and increasing abstraction and how they continue today to give new insight into the physics of complex systems. Galileo published the first modern law of motion, the Law of Fall, that was ideal and simple, laying the foundation upon which Newton built the first theory of dynamics. Early in the twentieth century, geometry became the cause of motion rather than the result when Einstein envisioned the fabric of space-time warped by mass and energy, forcing light rays to bend past the Sun. Possibly more radical was Feynman's dilemma of quantum particles taking all paths at once — setting the stage for the modern fields of quantum field theory and quantum computing. Yet as concepts of motion have evolved, one thing has remained constant, the need to track ever more complex changes and to capture their essence, to find patterns in the chaos as we try to predict and control our world.
The Universe in the Rearview Mirror
Author: Dave Goldberg
Publisher: Penguin
Published: 2014-06-24
Total Pages: 354
ISBN-13: 0142181048
DOWNLOAD EBOOK“A great read… Goldberg is an excellent guide.”—Mario Livio, bestselling author of The Golden Ratio Physicist Dave Goldberg speeds across space, time and everything in between showing that our elegant universe—from the Higgs boson to antimatter to the most massive group of galaxies—is shaped by hidden symmetries that have driven all our recent discoveries about the universe and all the ones to come. Why is the sky dark at night? If there is anti-matter, can there be anti-people? Why are past, present, and future our only options? Saluting the brilliant but unsung female mathematician Emmy Noether as well as other giants of physics, Goldberg answers these questions and more, exuberantly demonstrating that symmetry is the big idea—and the key to what lies ahead.
Linearity, Symmetry, and Prediction in the Hydrogen Atom
Author: Stephanie Frank Singer
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Published: 2006-06-18
Total Pages: 405
ISBN-13: 0387263691
DOWNLOAD EBOOKConcentrates on how to make predictions about the numbers of each kind of basic state of a quantum system from only two ingredients: the symmetry and linear model of quantum mechanics Method has wide applications in crystallography, atomic structure, classification of manifolds with symmetry and other areas Engaging and vivid style Driven by numerous exercises and examples Systematic organization Separate solutions manual available
