(July 18, 2017 at 6:02 pm)Mathilda Wrote: Could you explain in layman terms what Emmy Noether was working on, particularly the whole symmetry and conservation laws thing? Thanks.
Absolutely. I didn't name my elder daughter after her for nothing . Her main line of work was in higher algebra, but she did this side project which turned out to be the most important thing in theoretical physics. She found out that any continuous symmetry in the laws of nature directly correspond to a conserved quantity, and vice versa. For example, if the fundamental laws don't explicitely depend on time, there is a conserved quantity associated with that. We call this quantity "Energy". This idea callows us to construct theories based on symmetries by postulating which conserved quantities they should incorporate, and it allows us to gain a deeper understanding of what makes these theories tick.
The fool hath said in his heart, There is a God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.
Psalm 14, KJV revised edition
