Symmetry And The Beautiful Universe

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.

An engaging exploration of beauty in physics, with a foreword by Nobel Prize–winning physicist Roger Penrose The concept of symmetry has widespread manifestations and many diverse applications—from architecture to mathematics to science. Yet, as twentieth-century physics has revealed, symmetry has a special, central role in nature, one that is occasionally and enigmatically violated. Fearful Symmetry brings the incredible discoveries of the juxtaposition of symmetry and asymmetry in contemporary physics within everyone's grasp. A. Zee, a distinguished physicist and skillful expositor, tells the exciting story of how contemporary theoretical physicists are following Einstein in their search for the beauty and simplicity of Nature. Animated by a sense of reverence and whimsy, Fearful Symmetry describes the majestic sweep and accomplishments of twentieth-century physics—one of the greatest chapters in the intellectual history of humankind.

At the heart of relativity theory, quantum mechanics, string theory, and much of modern cosmology lies one concept: symmetry. In Why Beauty Is Truth, world-famous mathematician Ian Stewart narrates the history of the emergence of this remarkable area of study. Stewart introduces us to such characters as the Renaissance Italian genius, rogue, scholar, and gambler Girolamo Cardano, who stole the modern method of solving cubic equations and published it in the first important book on algebra, and the young revolutionary Evariste Galois, who refashioned the whole of mathematics and founded the field of group theory only to die in a pointless duel over a woman before his work was published. Stewart also explores the strange numerology of real mathematics, in which particular numbers have unique and unpredictable properties related to symmetry. He shows how Wilhelm Killing discovered "Lie groups" with 14, 52, 78, 133, and 248 dimensions-groups whose very existence is a profound puzzle. Finally, Stewart describes the world beyond superstrings: the "octonionic" symmetries that may explain the very existence of the universe.

At the heart of relativity theory, quantum mechanics, string theory, and much of modern cosmology lies one concept: symmetry. In Why Beauty Is Truth, world-famous mathematician Ian Stewart narrates the history of the emergence of this remarkable area of study. Stewart introduces us to such characters as the Renaissance Italian genius, rogue, scholar, and gambler Girolamo Cardano, who stole the modern method of solving cubic equations and published it in the first important book on algebra, and the young revolutionary Evariste Galois, who refashioned the whole of mathematics and founded the field of group theory only to die in a pointless duel over a woman before his work was published. Stewart also explores the strange numerology of real mathematics, in which particular numbers have unique and unpredictable properties related to symmetry. He shows how Wilhelm Killing discovered "Lie groups" with 14, 52, 78, 133, and 248 dimensions-groups whose very existence is a profound puzzle. Finally, Stewart describes the world beyond superstrings: the "octonionic" symmetries that may explain the very existence of the universe.

“A great read… Goldberg is an excellent guide.”—Mario Livio, bestselling author of The Golden Ratio Physicist Dave Goldberg speeds across space, time and everything in between showing that our elegant universe—from the Higgs boson to antimatter to the most massive group of galaxies—is shaped by hidden symmetries that have driven all our recent discoveries about the universe and all the ones to come. Why is the sky dark at night? If there is anti-matter, can there be anti-people? Why are past, present, and future our only options? Saluting the brilliant but unsung female mathematician Emmy Noether as well as other giants of physics, Goldberg answers these questions and more, exuberantly demonstrating that symmetry is the big idea—and the key to what lies ahead.

Based in the riches of Christian worship and tradition, this brief, eloquently written introduction to Christian thinking and worldview helps readers put back together again faith and reason, truth and beauty, and the fragmented academic disciplines. By reclaiming the classic liberal arts and viewing disciplines such as science and mathematics through a poetic lens, the author explains that unity is present within diversity. Now repackaged with a new foreword by Ken Myers, this book will continue to benefit parents, homeschoolers, lifelong learners, Christian students, and readers interested in the history of ideas.

Introduces the superstring theory that attempts to unite general relativity and quantum mechanics.

This is the third volume in the Single Monad Model of the Cosmos series. The second volume introduced the Duality of Time Theory, which provided elegant solutions to many persisting problems in physics and cosmology, including super-symmetry and matter-antimatter asymmetry. In addition to uniting the principles of Relativity and Quantum theories, this theory can also explain the psychical and spiritual domains; all based on the same discrete complex-time geometry. Super-symmetry, and quantum gravity, are realized only with the two complementary physical and psychical worlds, while the spiritual realm is governed by hyper-symmetry, which mirrors the previous two levels together, and all these three realms mirror the ultimate level of absolute oneness that describes the symmetry of the divine presence of God and His Beautiful Names and Attributes. This "ULTIMATE SYMMETRY" is a modern scientific account of the same ancient mystical, and greatly controversial, theory of the "Oneness of Being" that is often misinterpreted in terms of "pantheism", but it is indeed the concluding gnostic knowledge of God and creation. Otherwise, how can we understand the origin of the cosmos, with both or either of its corporeal and incorporeal realms, without referring to its Originator! In the literal sense, ultimate or perfect symmetry may seem to be trivial, because it means that all possible transformations in such a symmetric system are invariant. The system we are talking about here is the whole Universe that we are watching and experiencing its immense and sometimes shattering changes every moment of time. Yet many great philosophers, such as Parmenides and Ibn al-Arabi, maintained their firm belief that reality is unchanging One and existence is timeless and uniform, while all apparent changes are mere illusions induced by or in our sensory faculties. Nevertheless, since we are living inside it, this illusion is as good as reality for us. Therefore, we still need to explain how the Universe is being formulated. Only when are able to transcend beyond the current chest of time, we shall discover that we were living a dream, and we shall be able to see the whole Universe as unchanging symmetry. The Single Monad Model and the resulting Duality of Time Theory provide the link between this apparent dynamic multiplicity of creation and the ultimate metaphysical oneness. In fact, the complex-time geometry concludes that we are imagining the reality because we are observing it from a genuinely imaginary time dimension. Since the ultimate reality is One, we cannot view it from outside, because there is none! Thus, as we quoted in the Introduction, in the Book of Theophanies, Ibn al-Arabi ascribes to God as saying: Listen, O My beloved! I am the conclusive entity of the World. I am the center of the circle (of existence) and its circumference. I am its simple point and its compound whole. I am the Word descending between heaven and earth. I have created perceptions for you only to perceive Me. If you then perceive Me, you perceive yourself. But don't ever crave to perceive Me through yourself! It is through My Eyes that you see Me and see yourself. But through your own eyes you can never see Me! This Theophany of Perfection summarizes the Ultimate Symmetry between the single point and the encompassing space. It also summarizes the instantaneous process of creation, or re-creation, which is breaking this symmetry into the two arrows of time, that produce particles and anti-particles, and then restoring it through each subsequent annihilation. This reunion is also the fundamental cause of motion, which is formulated as the Principle of Love that leads to the stationary action that is the initial assumption of most physics theories including Relativity and Quantum Field theories.