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Porto
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Measuring and counting symmetry
Peter E. Trapa (University of Utah, USA)
Abstract: Symmetry is everywhere in the physical world (and in art and architecture), and so it's not surprising that it's been studied since antiquity. The point of these lectures is to introduce a precise mathematical formulation of symmetry and then explore its applications in various contexts. At the end, I hope to give a hint of the mathematical interpretation of the famous "eight-fold way" which descibes the way quarks can fit together to form other elementary particles according to the Standard Model in physics.
Topics will include:
(1) Examples and definitions of symmetry
(2) Symmetries of polygons, polyhedra, and surfaces
(3) Representations of symmetry
(4) Applications to problems from physics