Symmetry breaking. (Q5916142)

In these notes from lectures given at various occasions, the author explores the phenomenon of spontaneous symmetry breaking as it arises in classical and quantum systems. Despite many accounts in popular textbooks and a widespread belief, the phenomenon is rather subtle, requires an infinite set of degrees of freedom and an advanced mathematical setting of the system under investigation. In particular, for quantum systems, the phenomenon has to do with the existence of inequivalent representations of the algebra of local observables (also called sectors), viewed as different phases of the system, and the fact that time evolution leaves these phases invariant. Unfortunately, little attention is paid in these lectures to present-day elementary particle physics where the concept of spontaneously broken gauge symmetries (the \(\text{SU}(2)\times \text{U}(1)\) in electro-weak theory for instance) and the Higgs mechanism play an important role. The book has two parts. The first part addresses symmetry breaking in classical systems on the basis of classical field theory. An improved version of the Noether theorem will then account for what is being observed. Also, Strocchi argues that there is a classical counterpart of the Goldstone Theorem. The second part is on symmetry breaking in quantum systems with emphasis on concepts like locality, asymptotic abelianess, cluster property and pure phases. A major portion of it deals with KMS states, another with the Goldstone Theorem. The mathematically oriented graduate student will certainly benefit from this thorough, rigorous and detailed investigation.