Reflections on the four facets of symmetry: how physics exemplifies rational thinking

摘要

In contemporary theoretical physics, the powerful notion of symmetry stands for a web of intricate meanings among which I identify four clusters associated with the notion of transformation, comprehension, invariance and projection. While their interrelations are examined closely these four facets of symmetry are scrutinised one after the other in great detail. This decomposition allows us to carefully examine the multiple different roles symmetry plays in many places in physics. Furthermore, some connections with other disciplines like neurobiology, epistemology, cognitive sciences and, not least, philosophy are proposed in an attempt to show that symmetry can be an organising principle also in these fields.