Wheel of fortune
Wheel of fortune
Wheel of fortune
Wheel of fortune
Concept of symmetry
Self similarity under some change:
(The recipe:)
• Transform your object.
• See whether your object looks/behaves the
same.
• What quantity is conserved?
Symmetry in math
Symmetry in math
Symmetry in physics
• Physics as expressed by mathematics.
• Equation(s) of motion – Invariance:
• A pendulum.
• A tea saucer.
• The inside of this room.
Some surprising partnerships…
the conjugate couples.
• Location
Momentum (Umph)
• Rotation (Angle)
Angular momentum
• Time
Energy
Symmetries in physics:
spatial symmetry
Symmetries in physics:
spatial symmetry
Symmetries in physics:
temporal symmetry
So how DO choppers hover?
• Simple: Momentum conservation (tweaked)
• There is an art, it says, or rather, a knack to flying.
The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at
the ground and miss. … Clearly, it is this second part,
the missing, which presents the difficulties.
HHG: Life, the Universe and Everything
• Or in physics: “Throw enough momentum down, to
postpone your demise just one more second…”
Higgs for dummies
speaker included 
• Mass as resistance to change
• Mexican hat potential:
• Allowed movement near the top.
• Allowed movement in the trough.
• Breaking ones dreams and hopes…
(err… breaking of symmetry)
• The goldstone mechanism: eating away at
degrees of freedom.
An immensely rich field of research
• Order parameters
• Gauge symmetry – global, local
– U(1)xSU(2)xSU(3) = standard model
• Broken symmetries and the Higgs mechanism.
• And oh so much more…..