Symmetry and the Beautiful Universe

by Leon M. Lederman Nobel Laureate, Christopher T. Hill

Overview

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. 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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781615920419
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	11/29/2011
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	363
File size:	4 MB

About the Author

Leon M. Lederman, Nobel Laureate (Batavia, IL) is the author of Beyond the God Particle, Quantum Physics for Poets, and Symmetry and the Beautiful Universe (coauthored with Christopher T. Hill), as well as The God Particle (with Dick Teresi). He has served as the editor of Portraits of Great American Scientists and a contributor to Science Literacy for the Twenty-First Century. He is formerly the Resident Scholar at the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy and Pritzker Professor of Science at the Illinois Institute of Technology, and he is director emeritus of Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory.

Christopher T. Hill, PhD (Batavia, IL) is the coauthor with Leon M. Lederman of Beyond the God Particle, Quantum Physics for Poets, and Symmetry and the Beautiful Universe. He is a theoretical physicist (Scientist III) and the former head of Theoretical Physics at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory.

Table of Contents

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

Editorial Reviews

The authors have done an excellent job; the book is fascinating and is an important contribution to the subject.... Strongly recommended.

Choice

The concept of symmetry has seen increasing service in science popularizations as a metaphor to convey the intuitive appeal of physics, a vogue that continues in this dense treatise. Nobel Laureate Lederman (The God Particle) and theoretical physicist Hill deploy mathematical symmetry as a unifying theme in a tour of physics from Newton's laws to quarks and superstrings. Sometimes, as in a demonstration that the invariance of physical laws through time implies the law of conservation of energy, this approach yields insights. But usually, as in their confusing exposition of special relativity, symmetry considerations get in the way. The authors keep things readable with lots of physics-for-poets bits, including some tie-ins to environmentalism, comparisons of modern cosmology with ancient Greek myths, and a fictional dialogue-partly in Italian-between two newlywed physicists and Galileo's ghost. Unfortunately, symmetry is a forbiddingly abstract branch of mathematics that was peripheral to the development of much of physics and gives little tangible feel for its substance, and the point where it becomes indispensable to discussions of modern physics is also the tipping point where the book, like many others, topples into total incomprehensibility to laypeople. Readers who think symmetry implies clarity and grace will be disappointed. Photos. (Oct.) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

"A tour de force of physics made simple....”— Times Literary Supplement “Thought-provoking….”— Discover “Few books about modern physics are as fascinating, far-ranging, and readable as this. It would be appreciated by anyone interested in the nature of science and the beauty of the universe….”— NSTA Recommends“A compelling and accessible discussion….”— Science Books & Films

From the Publisher