Symmetries in physics : philosophical reflections / edited by Katherine Brading and Elena Castellani.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

1. Introduction / Katherine Brading and Elena Castellani -- Part I: Continuous symmetries. 2. Classic texts : extracts from Weyl and Wigner. Symmetry / Hermann Weyl ; Symmetry and conservation laws / Eugene P. Wigner ; Events, laws of nature, and invariance principles / Eugene P. Wigner ; 3. On the significance of continuous symmetry to the foundations of physics / Christopher A. Martin ; 4. The philosophical roots of the gauge principle : Weyl and transcendental phenomenological idealism / T.A. Ryckman ; 5. Symmetries and Noether's theorems / Katherine Brading and Harvey R. Brown ; 6. General covariance, gauge theories, and the Kretschmann objection / John D. Norton ; 7. The interpretation of gauge symmetry / Michael Redhead ; 8. Tracking down gauge : an ode to the constrained Hamiltonian formalism / John Earman ; 9. Time-dependent symmetries : the link between gauge symmetries and indeterminism / David Wallace ; 10. A fourth way to the Aharanov-Bohm effect / Aatigone M. Nounou -- Part II: Discrete symmetries. 11. Classic texts : extracts from Lebniz, Kant and Black. The Leibniz-Clarke correspondence / Gottfried W. Leibniz ; Concerning the ultimate ground of the differentiation of directions in space / Immanuel Kant ; The identity of indiscernibles / Max Black ; 12. Understanding permutation symmetry / Steven French and Dean Rickles ; 13. Quarticles and the identity of discernibles / Nick Huggett ; 14. Handedness, parity violation, and the reality of space / Oliver Pooley ; 15. Mirror symmetry : what is it for a relational space to be orientable? / Nick Huggett ; 16. Physics and Leibniz's principles / Simon Saunders

Part III: Symmetry breaking. 17. Classic texts : extracts from Curie and Weyl. On symmetry in physical phenomena, symmetry of an electric field and of a magnetic field / Pierre Curie ; Symmetry / Hermann Weyl ; 18. Cross-fertilization in theoretical physics : the case of condensed matter and particle physics / Giovanni Jona-Lasinio ; 19. On the meaning of symmetry breaking / Elena Castellani ; 20. Rough guide to spontaneous symmetry breaking / John Earman ; 21. Spontaneous symmetry breaking : theoretical arguments and philosophical problems / Margaret Morrison -- Part IV: General interpretative issues. 22. Classic texts : extracts from Wigner. Invariance in physical theory / Eugene P. Wigner ; The role of invariance principles in natural philosophy / Eugene P. Wigner ; 23. Symmetry as a guide to superfluous theoretical structure / Jenann Ismael and Bas C. van Fraassen ; Notes on symmetries / Gordon Belot ; Symmetry, objectivity, and design / Peter Kosso ; Symmetry and equivalence / Elena Castellani.

This book brings together current philosophical discussions of symmetry in physics, highlighting the main issues and controversies. It covers all the fundamental symmetries of modern physics, as well as discussing symmetry-breaking and general interpretational issues. For each topic, classic texts are followed by review articles and short commentaries.

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