spontaneous symmetry breaking
Spontaneous symmetry breaking refers to a phenomenon where a system that possesses a symmetric structure exhibits a state that does not possess the same symmetry. In other words, even though the underlying laws governing the system are symmetric, the system itself ends up favoring a particular state that breaks this symmetry.
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Related Concepts (3)
Similar Concepts
- chiral symmetry
- dynamical symmetry
- fractal symmetry
- mathematical symmetries
- scaling symmetry
- spontaneous order
- spontaneous pattern formation
- symmetry
- symmetry breaking
- symmetry breaking process
- symmetry-breaking
- time reversal symmetry
- time reversal symmetry and entropy
- time reversal symmetry breaking in condensed matter physics
- time reversal symmetry breaking in quantum mechanics