Curie's principle

Curie's principle, or Curie's symmetry principle, is a maxim about cause and effect formulated by Pierre Curie in 1894: ^[1]

the symmetries of the causes are to be found in the effects. ^{[2] [3] [4]}

The idea was based on the ideas of Franz Ernst Neumann and Bernhard Minnigerode. Thus, it is sometimes known as the Neumann–Minnigerode–Curie principle. ^[5]

Later physicists have interpreted Curie's principle in the context of thermodynamics. Dynamics close to equilibrium are described by a set of transport coefficients whose symmetries must match the symmetries of the system, according to Curie's principle. ^[6]

References

1. Curie, P. (1894). "Sur la symétrie dans les phénomènes physiques, symétrie d'un champ électrique et d'un champ magnétique" [On the symmetries of physical phenomenae, the electric field, and the magnetic field]. Journal de Physique Théorique et Appliquée (in French). 3 (1). EDP Sciences: 393–415. doi:10.1051/jphystap:018940030039300. ISSN   0368-3893.
2. Castellani, Elena; Jenann, Ismael (December 2016). "Which Curie's Principle?" (PDF). Philosophy of Science. 83 (5): 1002–1013. doi:10.1086/687933. hdl: 10150/625244 .
3. Ismael, Jenann (February 1997). "Curie's Principle". Synthese . 110 (2): 167–190. doi:10.1023/A:1004929109216.
4. Chalmers, A.F. (May 1970). "Curie's Principle". British Journal for the Philosophy of Science . 21 (2): 133–148. doi:10.1093/bjps/21.2.133.
5. Brandmüller, J. (1986). "An extension of the Neumann–Minnigerode–Curie principle" (PDF). Computers & Mathematics with Applications. 12 (1–2). Elsevier BV: 97–100. doi: 10.1016/0898-1221(86)90143-4 . ISSN   0898-1221.
6. de Groot, S. R.; Mazur, P. (2013). Non-Equilibrium Thermodynamics. Dover Publications. p. 31. ISBN   9780486153506.