| Spontaneous Symmetry Breaking |
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| CATEGORIES ABOUT SPONTANEOUS SYMMETRY BREAKING | |
| theoretical physics | |
| quantum field theory | |
| standard model | |
| quantum chromodynamics | |
| symmetry | |
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A common example to help explain this phenomenon is a ball sitting on top of a hill. This ball is in a completely symmetric state. However, it is not a stable one: the ball can easily roll down the hill. At some point, the ball will spontaneously roll down the hill in one direction or another. The symmetry has been broken because the direction the ball rolled down in has now been singled out from other directions. MATHEMATICAL EXAMPLE: THE MEXICAN HAT POTENTIAL In physics, one way of seeing spontaneous symmetry breaking is through the use of Lagrangian s. Lagrangians, which essentially dictate how a system will behave, can be split up into kinetic and potential terms : (1) It is in this potential term (V(φ)) that the action of symmetry breaking occurs. An example of a potential is illustrated in the graph at the right. |
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