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9781591022428

Symmetry And The Beautiful Universe

by
  • ISBN13:

    9781591022428

  • ISBN10:

    1591022428

  • Format: Hardcover
  • Copyright: 2004-10-31
  • Publisher: Prometheus Books
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List Price: $29.98

Summary

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 instil an appreciation for the profound beauty of the universe's inherent design.

Author Biography

Christopher T. Hill is head of the Theoretical Physics Department at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, and a fellow of the American Physical Society.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments 11(2)
Introduction: What Is Symmetry? 13(2)
Symmetry in Music
15(3)
Earth Is Round
18(2)
Symmetry in Mathematics and Physics
20(3)
A Tribute to Emmy Noether
23(4)
Children of the Titans
27(18)
The Evolution of the Universe and Its Metaphors
27(2)
The Titans
29(6)
Gotterdammerung: Twilight of the Titans
35(3)
Earth
38(2)
Oklo
40(2)
Stability of the Laws of Physics
42(3)
Time and Energy
45(20)
It Can't Happen Here
45(9)
But What Is Energy?
54(7)
The Looming Energy Crisis
61(4)
Emmy Noether
65(14)
Mathematics versus Physics
67(2)
The Life and Times of Emmy Noether
69(8)
Symmetry and Physics
77(2)
Symmetry, Space, and Time
79(18)
Gedankenlab
80(2)
Spatial Translations
82(3)
Time Translations
85(2)
Rotations
87(3)
The Symmetry of Motion
90(3)
``Global'' versus ``Local''
93(4)
Noether's Theorem
97(20)
Conservation Laws in Elementary Physics
97(1)
Conservation of Momentum
98(7)
Conservation of Energy
105(6)
Conservation of Angular Momentum
111(6)
Inertia
117(24)
A Brief History of Inertia, Symmetry, and Our Solar System
120(8)
Noticing Inertia
128(2)
The Union of Symmetry, Inertia, and the Laws of Physics
130(1)
Newton's Laws of Motion
131(1)
Acceleration
132(4)
Gravity
136(5)
Relativity
141(24)
The Speed of Light
141(5)
The Speed of Light as Seen by Moving Observers
146(4)
The Principle of Relativity
150(1)
The Overthrow of the Relativity of Galileo
151(2)
The Relativity of Einstein
153(4)
The Bizarre Effects of Special Relativity
157(3)
Energy and Momentum in Special Relativity
160(3)
General Relativity
163(2)
Reflections
165(24)
Reflection Symmetry
166(6)
Parity Symmetry and the Laws of Physics
172(4)
The Overthrow of Parity Symmetry
176(5)
Time Reversal Symmetry
181(3)
Time Reversal Invariance and Antimatter
184(3)
Putting It All Together: CPT
187(2)
Broken Symmetry
189(14)
A Pencil on Its Tip
190(2)
Magnets
192(5)
Spontaneous Symmetry Breaking throughout Nature
197(3)
Cosmic Inflation
200(3)
Quantum Mechanics
203(34)
Is Light a Particle or a Wave?
205(6)
Quantum Theory Becomes Ever More Curious
211(2)
The Uncertainty Principle
213(3)
The Wave Function
216(4)
A Bound State
220(5)
Spin and Orbital Angular Momentum in Quantum Theory
225(2)
The Symmetry of Identical Particles
227(4)
Exchange Symmetry, Stability of Matter and All of Chemistry
231(2)
Quantum Theory Meets Special Relativity: Antimatter
233(4)
The Hidden Symmetry of Light
237(20)
Hints of a Symmetry
239(1)
Local Gauge Invariance
240(6)
The Quantum Process of Radiation: QED
246(1)
Feynman Diagrams
247(7)
Toward Unifying All Forces in Nature
254(3)
Quarks and Leptons
257(34)
Inside the Atom of the Mid-twentieth Century
259(3)
Quarks
262(1)
The Standard Model of Particles and Forces
263(7)
The Strong Force Is a Gauge Symmetry
270(6)
The Weak Force
276(4)
Enter the Higgs Field
280(4)
Beyond the Higgs Boson: Supersymmetry?
284(3)
Philosophical Comments
287(4)
An Epilogue for Educators
291(4)
Appendix. Symmetry Groups
295(22)
The Mathematics of Symmetry
295(11)
A Simple Problem on Sherman's SAT
306(6)
Continuous Symmetry Groups
312(5)
Notes 317(36)
Index 353

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