HAPP one-day Conference: Symmetries in Physics
Symmetry is an appealing feature in many areas such as human and animal life forms, art, architecture and so on. However, symmetries in physics take on a far greater significance as they actually govern the dynamics of the physical under consideration. Emmy Noether’s remarkable theorem of 1918 shows that each symmetry implies a related conservation law. Symmetries such parity, charge conjugation and time reversal – regarded as exact in classical physics – were found to be broken in the quantum world, possibly explaining the matter/antimatter asymmetry observed in our Universe. The discovery of new quark flavour quantum numbers and the colour quantum numbers of quarks required new symmetries governing their theoretical description now known as the Standard Model – the spontaneous breaking of these symmetries required the existence of the famous Higgs boson discovered at CERN in 2012.

This one-day conference will review the role of symmetries from classical physics to the heart of modern fundamental theory including some still unproven (such as supersymmetry) which could open dramatic new vistas in our understanding of the Universe.

Please visit the website for booking options: www.stx.ox.ac.uk/event/symmetries-in-physics
Date: 19 November 2022, 10:30
Venue: Mathematical Institute, Woodstock Road OX2 6GG
Speakers: Professor Klaus Mainzer (Technical University of Munich), Professor Raffaele Pisano (University of Lille), Professor Themis Bowcock (University of Liverpool), Professor Maria Clara Nucci (University of Messina), Professor Cristina Lazzeroni (University of Birmingham), Professor Paul Heslop (Durham University), Professor Chris McManus (UCL)
Organising department: St Cross College
Organiser contact email address: happ-centre@stx.ox.ac.uk
Part of: HAPP: St Cross Centre for the History and Philosophy of Physics
Booking required?: Required
Booking url: https://www.oxforduniversitystores.co.uk/conferences-and-events/st-cross-college/events/symmetries-in-physics-oneday-conference?token=4f4fb020696a70a1a965b8f88ab4b664
Audience: Members of the University only
Editors: Laura Spence, Belinda Clark