Types of symmetry

The idea of the symmetry of the world was expressed by scholars of ancient Greece, China and India. Significant interest in symmetry in our time is due to the fact that it embodies in science the era of the synthesis of many scientific concepts, at first glance disjointed, which combine into one consistent and integral picture of the world.

Many scientists attribute symmetry to such fundamental attributes of being as time, space, movement. Types of symmetry can be the following: structural; Geometrical; Dynamic. Symmetry can manifest itself in invariance (invariance).

Symmetry in physics manifests itself not only in the form of simple (geometric) symmetries, but also in the form of very complex, so-called dynamic symmetries, that is, those that are not related to space-time relationships but to various types of interactions.

From the point of view of equilibrium, orderliness between parts of the whole and violation of such orderliness, it is possible to define the following types of symmetry: symmetry; asymmetry; Dissymmetry; Antisymmetry; Supersymmetry.

Asymmetry is the absence of symmetry. In reality, there is no absolute symmetry and asymmetry. These antagonists are always in dialectical unity and constant struggle. At different stages of the evolution of matter, there is a predominance of symmetry, then asymmetry, but always these two tendencies are present as a dialectical contradiction and unity.

Dysymmetry is the absence of objects of certain symmetry elements. According to Pasteur, a disymmetric one can be called such a figure, which can not be combined with a superposition with a mirror image. The level of symmetry of such an object can be arbitrarily high.

Antisymmetry is the opposite of symmetry. It is associated with the change of sign: particle-antiparticle, plus-minus, white-black, compression-stretching, and so on.

In the last years of the twentieth century, the idea of supersymmetry, proposed by Russian mathematicians Gelfand and Lichtmann, was developed. Their idea was the following: in our space there are ordinary dimensions, therefore, there can exist also super-dimensions, measured in the so-called Grassmann numbers, which are very unusual. So, for example, in our usual mathematics, multiply eight by nine is the same as if we multiplied nine by eight. In Grassmann's mathematics "a" multiplied by "in" will be equal to minus "in" multiplied by "a". This mathematical apparatus assumes the existence of some symmetric "anti-worlds."

The types of symmetry can be considered by the so-called symmetry operations. Isolate operations such as reflection in the plane; Turn around the axis; Reflection in the center; Screw turns and others.

Two-sided symmetry is best represented in biology. One example of such symmetry is beautiful and constructively uneasy patterns in butterflies on wings.

Two-sided symmetry arose in connection with the need of organisms to move in space in accordance with certain goals. First of all, she touched the organs of movement: legs of spiders, crustaceans, amphibians, insects, mammals and reptiles, wings of bats and birds, fins of lamprey, squid, seals, fish, dolphins and whales.

The organs that control movement, the nervous system of man and animals, too, have a similar symmetry. Obviously, it's easier to coordinate the work of legs, wings or fins in order to move more actively in space without colliding with various objects, maintaining the balance of the body, making an accurate landing and making other movements.

Thus, we have considered some types of symmetry.