Symbol system for symmetry of physical systems
Based on the view that symmetry recognition plays an essential role in human reasoning about the laws of physical phenomena, we propose a reasoning paradigm in which symmetry assists in the discovery of physical laws. Within this paradigm, symmetries are used as constraints which enable us to specify, derive, and generalize these equations. The symmetry-based reasoning is extracted and formalized from Einstein's work on relativity. We claim that the reasoning procedure thus formalized provides a general reasoning architecture that is common to dimensional analysis in engineering, mathematical proofs, and common sense reasoning. This symmetry-based reasoning system has been implemented as a symbol-processing system with a production system and a formula-processing system. Using the symmetry-based reasoning system, the equation of Black's Law of specific heat is demonstrated to be specified, derived, and generalized. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
symmetry physical systems dimensional analysis modelling formula processing