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advanced_tools:group_theory [2018/04/08 17:15]
georgefarr ↷ Links adapted because of a move operation
advanced_tools:group_theory [2018/04/13 09:42]
bogumilvidovic [Why is it interesting?]
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 <​blockquote>​A man who is tired of group theory is a man who is tired of life. <​cite>​ Sidney Coleman</​cite></​blockquote>​ <​blockquote>​A man who is tired of group theory is a man who is tired of life. <​cite>​ Sidney Coleman</​cite></​blockquote>​
  
 +<​blockquote>​Group theory is, in short, the mathematics of symmetries. You already know that 
 +symmetries can be very important in understanding or simplifying physics problems. 
 +When you study classical mechanics, you learn that symmetries of a system 
 +are intimately related to the existence of conserved charges. Their existence often 
 +makes solving for the dynamics a lot simpler. Even if a symmetry is not present 
 +exactly (for instance, when a system is almost-but-not-quite spherically symmetric),​ 
 +we can often describe the system as a small perturbation of a system that does 
 +exhibit symmetry. A surprisingly large number of physics problems is built around 
 +that idea; in fact, practically all systems for which we can solve the dynamics exactly 
 +exhibit some sort of symmetry that allow us to reduce the often horrible secondorder 
 +equations of motion to much simpler first-order conservation equations.<​cite>​http://​maths.dur.ac.uk/​users/​kasper.peeters/​pdf/​groups.pdf</​cite></​blockquote>​
  
 <tabbox Overview>​ <tabbox Overview>​
advanced_tools/group_theory.txt · Last modified: 2020/09/07 05:18 by 14.161.7.200