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Symmetry and emergence

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Abstract

In a modern understanding of particle physics, global symmetries are approximate and gauge symmetries may be emergent. This view, which has echoes in condensed-matter physics, is supported by a variety of arguments from experiment and theory.

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Acknowledgements

Research supported in part by NSF Grant PHY-1606531.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Natural Sciences, Institute for Advanced Study, Einstein Drive, Princeton, 08540, New Jersey, USA

    Edward Witten

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  1. Edward Witten
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Correspondence to Edward Witten.

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Witten, E. Symmetry and emergence. Nat. Phys. 14, 116–119 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys4348

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