In this paper we discuss how the abstract concept of symmetry entered physics. The first step leading to this development occurred with Felix Klein’s discovery that the structure of a geometry is determined by the group of transformations that leave invariant its proposition (1872). Yet, it was only in 1908, i.e. almost four decades later, that the idea of symmetry fully entered physics. As it will be shown, this was a consequence of Hermann Minkowski’s treatment of special relativity.
On the emergence of the abstract concept of symmetry in physics
LEONE, Matteo
2008-01-01
Abstract
In this paper we discuss how the abstract concept of symmetry entered physics. The first step leading to this development occurred with Felix Klein’s discovery that the structure of a geometry is determined by the group of transformations that leave invariant its proposition (1872). Yet, it was only in 1908, i.e. almost four decades later, that the idea of symmetry fully entered physics. As it will be shown, this was a consequence of Hermann Minkowski’s treatment of special relativity.
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