Symmetries in physics: historical-philosophical reflections
As is well known, considerations based on the group theoretical notion of symmetry dominate modern physics, at all scales of the physical description. In the philosophy of science community, the role and meaning of physical symmetries is a relatively recent subject and, apart from some notable exceptions, literature devoted to systematic philosophical reflection on the issue started to appear at the beginning of this century. Since then, the subject has flourished and such issues as the significance of gauge symmetry, quantum particle identity in the light of permutation symmetry, the role of symmetry breaking, the empirical status of symmetry principles have become most discussed topics in today's philosophy of physics. The talk aims at giving a survey of this debate's main points and arguments, highlighting how the issues discussed relate to more traditional problems in the philosophy of science, such as the status of the laws of nature and, more generally, the relationships between mathematics, physical theory and the world. To lend some depth to the survey, the talk begins with some historical remarks, including a brief description of the historical roots and emergence of the concept of symmetry at work in modern physics.
Friday, 22 November 2019, ore 14:30 — Sala Wataghin