
Historical Roots of Spontaneous Symmetry Breaking
Steps Towards an Analogy
Rocco Gaudenzi(Author)
Springer (Publisher)
Published on 29. April 2022
Book
Paperback/Softback
X, 131 pages
978-3-030-99894-3 (ISBN)
Description
What are the thinking processes and knowledge resources involved in a complex discovery? How can the physics of solids, the physics of nuclei, and elementary particle physics cross-fertilise in spite of the widely differing domains and energy scales they deal with? This book addresses the questions by reconstructing and examining from the historical epistemological perspective the fascinating heuristic path to the concept of spontaneous symmetry breaking. This analysis especially brings to light the role that analogical reasoning and mathematical reformulations played in the discovery process, as well as the influence of the Japanese milieu and approach to physical problems.
More details
Series
Edition
1st ed. 2022
Language
English
Place of publication
Cham
Switzerland
Publishing group
Springer International Publishing
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Illustrations
1 s/w Abbildung
X, 131 p. 1 illus.
Dimensions
Height: 235 mm
Width: 155 mm
Thickness: 9 mm
Weight
230 gr
ISBN-13
978-3-030-99894-3 (9783030998943)
DOI
10.1007/978-3-030-99895-0
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
04/2022
Springer
€53.49
Available for download
Person
After a high-school degree in Classics, Rocco Gaudenzi earned his Master and Doctoral degree in physics at the ETH Zurich and the Delft University of Technology, publishing in the fields of solid-state physics, quantum magnetism and the thermodynamics of information processing. He has then moved on to do research on the conceptual dynamics, historical and philosophical dimensions of science. At the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science in Berlin he carried out an investigation on the flow of concepts and formalisms between modern low-energy physics and high-energy physics, and the two-way analogical transfer of mathematical methods and theoretical frameworks.
Content
Shows How Different Sub-disciplines can have a Beneficial Influence on Each Other.- Traits of an Emerging Tradition: Modern Physics in Japan.- Yoichiro Nambu and the Collective Description of Many-particle Systems.- Elementary Particles as Excitations of a Solid Medium. Is the Universe a Superconductor?.- Historical and Epistemological Re?ections.