Some General Thoughts about Broken Symmetry.
Abstract
The emphasis in this talk will be on the precise characterization of the term 'broken symmetry' and the phenomena associated with it. We will examine to what extent one may generalize to random systems and to 'dissipative structures'. Thermal equilibrium broken symmetry is characterized by an order parameter eta(r) which is thermodynamic variable with a physical conjugate force field X, and by a free energy dependent upon eta(r); from these properties follow not only the Landau thermodynamics but also the phenomena of generalized rigidity, Goldstone collective excitations, and topologically stable defects. We conjecture what may be the consequences of relaxing these assumptions. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 21, 1981
- Accession Number
- ADA094870
Entities
People
- P. W. Anderson
Organizations
- Princeton University