From fluid mechanics backgrounds to modern field theory (Q2167891)

The authors aim to prove that the development of theoretical fluid dynamics in the 18th and 19th centuries fuelled modern physical theories which took fluid dynamics as an example. Navier's work on viscous, compressible flow by utilising the Lagrangean for the dissipative part. Then the way to Noether's symmetry theorem is described in detail. The Euler potential gave rise to the compensating potentials in gauge theory while Helmholtz's monodromy problem leads to the gauge symmetry. The authors show that Minkowski's space-time formalism is also rooted in classical ideas of Grassmannian mechanics. Finally, multi-dimensional, multi-field, and higher-gradient continua are discussed in the light of robust models in fluid dynamics.