Broken symmetry

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Broken symmetry is a concept used in mathematics and physics when an object breaks either rotational symmetry or translational symmetry. That is, when one can only rotate an object in certain angles or when one is able to tell if the object has been shifted sideways (unless one shifts by a whole number of lattice units).

A sculpture depicting this principle is installed at the entrance to Fermilab [1].

[edit] See also

• Catastrophe theory
• Symmetry
• Spontaneous symmetry breaking

[edit] External links

• Mathworld: Symmetry [2], Rotation [3] and Translation [4].
• Identify the Broken Symmetry [5]