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Continuous Symmetry
In mathematics, continuous symmetry is an intuitive idea corresponding to the concept of viewing some symmetries as motions, as opposed to discrete symmetry, e.g. reflection symmetry, which is invariant under a kind of flip from one state to another. However, a discrete symmetry can always be reinterpreted as a subset of some higher-dimensional continuous symmetry, e.g. reflection of a 2 dimensional object in 3 dimensional space can be achieved by continuously rotating that object 180 degrees across a non-parallel plane. Formalization The notion of continuous symmetry has largely and successfully been formalised in the mathematical notions of topological group, Lie group and group action. For most practical purposes continuous symmetry is modelled by a ''group action'' of a topological group that preserves some structure. Particularly, let f:X\to Y be a function, and ''G'' is a group that acts on ''X'' then a subgroup H\subseteq G is a symmetry of ''f'' if f(h\cdot x) = f(x) for al ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mathematics
Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics with the major subdisciplines of number theory, algebra, geometry, and analysis, respectively. There is no general consensus among mathematicians about a common definition for their academic discipline. Most mathematical activity involves the discovery of properties of abstract objects and the use of pure reason to prove them. These objects consist of either abstractions from nature orin modern mathematicsentities that are stipulated to have certain properties, called axioms. A ''proof'' consists of a succession of applications of deductive rules to already established results. These results include previously proved theorems, axioms, andin case of abstraction from naturesome basic properties that are considered true starting poin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Noether's Theorem
Noether's theorem or Noether's first theorem states that every differentiable symmetry of the action of a physical system with conservative forces has a corresponding conservation law. The theorem was proven by mathematician Emmy Noether in 1915 and published in 1918. The action of a physical system is the integral over time of a Lagrangian function, from which the system's behavior can be determined by the principle of least action. This theorem only applies to continuous and smooth symmetries over physical space. Noether's theorem is used in theoretical physics and the calculus of variations. It reveals the fundamental relation between the symmetries of a physical system and the conservation laws. It also made modern theoretical physicists much more focused on symmetries of physical systems. A generalization of the formulations on constants of motion in Lagrangian and Hamiltonian mechanics (developed in 1788 and 1833, respectively), it does not apply to systems tha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Symmetry
Symmetry (from grc, συμμετρία "agreement in dimensions, due proportion, arrangement") in everyday language refers to a sense of harmonious and beautiful proportion and balance. In mathematics, "symmetry" has a more precise definition, and is usually used to refer to an object that is invariant under some transformations; including translation, reflection, rotation or scaling. Although these two meanings of "symmetry" can sometimes be told apart, they are intricately related, and hence are discussed together in this article. Mathematical symmetry may be observed with respect to the passage of time; as a spatial relationship; through geometric transformations; through other kinds of functional transformations; and as an aspect of abstract objects, including theoretic models, language, and music. This article describes symmetry from three perspectives: in mathematics, including geometry, the most familiar type of symmetry for many people; in science and n ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Circular Symmetry
In geometry, circular symmetry is a type of continuous symmetry for a planar object that can be rotated by any arbitrary angle and map onto itself. Rotational circular symmetry is isomorphic with the circle group in the complex plane, or the special orthogonal group SO(2), and unitary group U(1). Reflective circular symmetry is isomorphic with the orthogonal group O(2). Two dimensions A 2-dimensional object with circular symmetry would consist of concentric circles and annular domains. Rotational circular symmetry has all cyclic symmetry, Z''n'' as subgroup symmetries. Reflective circular symmetry has all dihedral symmetry, Dih''n'' as subgroup symmetries. Three dimensions In 3-dimensions, a surface or solid of revolution has circular symmetry around an axis, also called cylindrical symmetry or axial symmetry. An example is a right circular cone. Circular symmetry in 3 dimensions has all pyramidal symmetry, C''n''v as subgroups. A double-cone, bicone, cylin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Motion (geometry)
In geometry, a motion is an isometry of a metric space. For instance, a plane equipped with the Euclidean distance metric is a metric space in which a mapping associating congruent figures is a motion. More generally, the term ''motion'' is a synonym for surjective isometry in metric geometry, including elliptic geometry and hyperbolic geometry. In the latter case, hyperbolic motions provide an approach to the subject for beginners. Motions can be divided into direct and indirect motions. Direct, proper or rigid motions are motions like translations and rotations that preserve the orientation of a chiral shape. Indirect, or improper motions are motions like reflections, glide reflections and Improper rotations that invert the orientation of a chiral shape. Some geometers define motion in such a way that only direct motions are motions. In differential geometry In differential geometry, a diffeomorphism is called a motion if it induces an isometry between the tangent space at a m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sophus Lie
Marius Sophus Lie ( ; ; 17 December 1842 – 18 February 1899) was a Norwegian mathematician. He largely created the theory of continuous symmetry and applied it to the study of geometry and differential equations. Life and career Marius Sophus Lie was born on 17 December 1842 in the small town of Nordfjordeid. He was the youngest of six children born to a Lutheran pastor named Johann Herman Lie, and his wife who came from a well-known Trondheim family. He had his primary education in the south-eastern coast of Moss, before attending high school at Oslo (known then as Christiania). After graduating from high school, his ambition towards a military career was dashed when the army rejected him due to his poor eyesight. It was then that he decided to enrol at the University of Christiania. Sophus Lie's first mathematical work, ''Repräsentation der Imaginären der Plangeometrie'', was published in 1869 by the Academy of Sciences in Christiania and also by ''Crelle's Journal''. T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Infinitesimal Transformation
In mathematics, an infinitesimal transformation is a limiting form of ''small'' transformation. For example one may talk about an infinitesimal rotation of a rigid body, in three-dimensional space. This is conventionally represented by a 3×3 skew-symmetric matrix ''A''. It is not the matrix of an actual rotation in space; but for small real values of a parameter ε the transformation :T=I+\varepsilon A is a small rotation, up to quantities of order ε2. History A comprehensive theory of infinitesimal transformations was first given by Sophus Lie. This was at the heart of his work, on what are now called Lie groups and their accompanying Lie algebras; and the identification of their role in geometry and especially the theory of differential equations. The properties of an abstract Lie algebra are exactly those definitive of infinitesimal transformations, just as the axioms of group theory embody symmetry. The term "Lie algebra" was introduced in 1934 by Hermann Weyl, for w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Goldstone's Theorem
In particle and condensed matter physics, Goldstone bosons or Nambu–Goldstone bosons (NGBs) are bosons that appear necessarily in models exhibiting spontaneous breakdown of continuous symmetries. They were discovered by Yoichiro Nambu in particle physics within the context of the BCS superconductivity mechanism, and subsequently elucidated by Jeffrey Goldstone, and systematically generalized in the context of quantum field theory. In condensed matter physics such bosons are quasiparticles and are known as Anderson–Bogoliubov modes. These spinless bosons correspond to the spontaneously broken internal symmetry generators, and are characterized by the quantum numbers of these. They transform nonlinearly (shift) under the action of these generators, and can thus be excited out of the asymmetric vacuum by these generators. Thus, they can be thought of as the excitations of the field in the broken symmetry directions in group space—and are massless if the spontaneously brok ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Quantum Field Theory
In theoretical physics, quantum field theory (QFT) is a theoretical framework that combines classical field theory, special relativity, and quantum mechanics. QFT is used in particle physics to construct physical models of subatomic particles and in condensed matter physics to construct models of quasiparticles. QFT treats particles as excited states (also called quanta) of their underlying quantum fields, which are more fundamental than the particles. The equation of motion of the particle is determined by minimization of the Lagrangian, a functional of fields associated with the particle. Interactions between particles are described by interaction terms in the Lagrangian involving their corresponding quantum fields. Each interaction can be visually represented by Feynman diagrams according to perturbation theory in quantum mechanics. History Quantum field theory emerged from the work of generations of theoretical physicists spanning much of the 20th century. Its devel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Conservation Law (physics)
In physics, a conservation law states that a particular measurable property of an isolated physical system does not change as the system evolves over time. Exact conservation laws include conservation of energy, conservation of linear momentum, conservation of angular momentum, and conservation of electric charge. There are also many approximate conservation laws, which apply to such quantities as mass, parity, lepton number, baryon number, strangeness, hypercharge, etc. These quantities are conserved in certain classes of physics processes, but not in all. A local conservation law is usually expressed mathematically as a continuity equation, a partial differential equation which gives a relation between the amount of the quantity and the "transport" of that quantity. It states that the amount of the conserved quantity at a point or within a volume can only change by the amount of the quantity which flows in or out of the volume. From Noether's theorem, each conservation ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Theoretical Physics
Theoretical physics is a branch of physics that employs mathematical models and abstractions of physical objects and systems to rationalize, explain and predict natural phenomena. This is in contrast to experimental physics, which uses experimental tools to probe these phenomena. The advancement of science generally depends on the interplay between experimental studies and theory. In some cases, theoretical physics adheres to standards of mathematical rigour while giving little weight to experiments and observations.There is some debate as to whether or not theoretical physics uses mathematics to build intuition and illustrativeness to extract physical insight (especially when normal experience fails), rather than as a tool in formalizing theories. This links to the question of it using mathematics in a less formally rigorous, and more intuitive or heuristic way than, say, mathematical physics. For example, while developing special relativity, Albert Einstein was concer ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Translation (geometry)
In Euclidean geometry, a translation is a geometric transformation that moves every point of a figure, shape or space by the same distance in a given direction. A translation can also be interpreted as the addition of a constant vector to every point, or as shifting the origin of the coordinate system. In a Euclidean space, any translation is an isometry. As a function If \mathbf is a fixed vector, known as the ''translation vector'', and \mathbf is the initial position of some object, then the translation function T_ will work as T_(\mathbf)=\mathbf+\mathbf. If T is a translation, then the image of a subset A under the function T is the translate of A by T . The translate of A by T_ is often written A+\mathbf . Horizontal and vertical translations In geometry, a vertical translation (also known as vertical shift) is a translation of a geometric object in a direction parallel to the vertical axis of the Cartesian coordinate system. Often, vertical translatio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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