Symmetries in Nature: The Scientific Heritage of Louis Michel (World Scientific Series in 20th Century Physics)

Zhilinskii, Boris (EDT)/ Damour, Thibault (EDT)/ Todorov, Ivan (EDT)

World Scientific Publishing Co Pte Ltd（2014/04発売）

• 製本 Hardcover:ハードカバー版／ページ数 440 p.
• 言語 ENG
• 商品コード 9789814551366
• DDC分類 539.72

Full Description

Reflecting the oeuvre of "a man of two cultures: the culture of pure mathematics and the culture of theoretical physics" (in the words of his long time friend and co-author, Kameshwar Wali), this volume is centred around the notion of symmetry and its breaking. Starting with particle physics, the content proceeds to symmetries of matter, defects, and crystals. The mathematics of group extensions, non-linear group action, critical orbits and phase transitions is developed along the way. The symmetry principles and general mathematical tools provide unity in the treatment of different topics. The papers and lecture notes are preceded by a lively biography of Louis Michel and a commentary that relates his selected works both to the physics of his time and to contemporary trends.This book should be of interest to theoretical physicists, chemists, applied mathematicians and historians of science, and is accessible to graduate (and advanced undergraduate) students.

Contents

Early Work on Particle Physics; Group Extensions; Internal Symmetries and Relativistic Invariance; A Geometric View on Broken Symmetries; Nonlinear Group Action; Symmetry of Matter, Defects, Phase Transitions; Periodic and Aperiodic Crystals; Scientific Culture.