ESHS/HSS Annual Meeting

The Heuristic Influence of Mathematical Symmetries on 20th-Century Conceptions of Mass

• In Event: Shifting Perspectives on Histories of Gravity and Mass 3

English Abstract

The construction of the Higgs mechanism revealed a stronger relationship between gauge symmetries and mass than anticipated – a level perhaps beyond the widely appreciated centrality of symmetry in early particle physics. I argue that, in the preceding decades, there was continuity in this special relationship between mass and symmetry, not only technically but heuristically.
To illustrate this continuity, I consider in this talk early field theoretic perceptions of mass in relation to conservation laws and wider symmetry heuristics. The ongoing development of related theory can greatly complicate the task of tracing these influences, and so I first lay a foundation for discussion by understanding what is meant by this conception of ‘mass’ whose ‘generation’ sought explaining. I will then, by way of example, focus on what I believe to be a pattern of these influences in the work of Julian Schwinger, culminating in his 1962 paper “Gauge Invariance and Mass. II”. Here, Schwinger proposed the capability of vector gauge fields to imply nonzero mass in 1+1 dimensional spacetime. To make my case, I draw parallels between Schwinger’s constructions and heuristics surrounding emerging group-theoretical structures and symmetries, emphasising the significance of gradual and often unintentional convergence rather than systematic incorporation throughout.

Author

• Victoria Zwierzyk-Teles, University of Bonn & St Andrews