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Symmetry Principles
For decades, theorists have been cooking up "theories of everything" to explain our Universe. Are all of them completely off-track?
No matter what physical system we consider, nature always obeys the same fundamental laws. Must it be this way, and if so, why?
The combination of charge conjugation, parity, and time-reversal symmetry is known as CPT. And it must never be broken. Ever.
Gravitational lenses arise when foreground masses and background light sources properly align. Einstein rings are rare, but crosses abound.
Whether you run the clock forward or backward, most of us expect the laws of physics to be the same. A 2012 experiment showed otherwise.
A few physical quantities, in all laboratory experiments, are always conserved: including energy. But for the entire Universe? Not so much.
The laws of physics obey certain symmetries and defy others. It's theoretically tempting to add new ones, but reality doesn't agree.
We have very specific predictions for how particles ought to decay. When we look at B-mesons all together, something vital doesn't add up.
Almost 100 years ago, an asymmetric pathology led Dirac to postulate the positron. A similar pathology could lead us to supersymmetry.
3mins
Nobel Prize winning physicist Frank Wilczek reflects on Einstein’s greatest contribution.
It's 2024, and we still only know of the fundamental particles of the Standard Model: nothing more. But these 8 unanswered questions remain.
If the electromagnetic and weak forces unify to make the electroweak force, maybe, at higher energies, something even grander happens?
The majority of the matter in our Universe isn't made of any of the particles in the Standard Model. Could the axion save the day?
First derived by Emmy Noether, for every symmetry a theory possesses, there's an associated conserved quantity. Here's the profound link.
Symmetries aren't just about folding or rotating a piece of paper, but have a profound array of applications when it comes to physics.
In the very early Universe, practically all particles were massless. Then the Higgs symmetry broke, and suddenly everything was different.
There may be a symmetrical interdependence between order and chaos.
The problem of the electroweak horizon haunts the standard model of cosmology and beckons us to ask how deep a rethink the model may need.
The conservation of energy is one of the most fundamental laws governing our reality. But in the expanding Universe, that's just not true.
If you look into a mirror, you'll notice that left-and-right are reversed, but up-and-down is preserved. The reason isn't what you think.
7mins
Frank Wilczek is celebrated for his investigations into the fundamental laws of nature that have transformed our understanding of the forces that govern our Universe. In this video, the MIT […]
Magnetic monopoles began as a mere theoretical curiosity. They might hold the key to understanding so much more.
Ever since the start of the hot Big Bang, time ticks forward as the Universe expands. But could time ever run backward, instead?
Basic and breath-taking – Dr. Frank Wilczek addresses symmetry’s critical role in nature’s laws and what we consider to be beautiful.
John Templeton Foundation
Mathematics and religion both embody awe-inspiring, eternal truths.
John Templeton Foundation
Symmetrical objects are less complex than non-symmetrical ones. Perhaps evolution acts as an algorithm with a bias toward simplicity.
Life is possible because of asymmetries, such as an imbalance between matter and antimatter and the "handedness" (chirality) of molecules.
If the electromagnetic and weak forces unify to make the electroweak force, maybe, at even higher energies, something even greater happens?
The ten greatest ideas in science form the bedrock of modern biology, chemistry, and physics. Everyone should be familiar with them.
The Universe has asymmetries, but that's a good thing. Imperfections are essential for the existence of stars and even life itself.