The 2008 Nobel Prize for Physics
By: Pedro Ferreira
From: CFTC and ISEL
At: Complexo Interdisciplinar, Anfiteatro
[2008-11-26]
The 2008 Nobel Prize for Physics was given to Y. Nambu, for the introduction, in particle physics, of the concept of spontaneous symmetry breaking, and to M. Kobayashi e K. Maskawa, for having explained the violation of the CP symmetry through and explicit breaking of a symmetry. In this seminar, at a level accessible to a general audience, we will explain what is a symmetry, what is the importance of symmetries in physics and why is it necessary to break them. We will explain the difference between spontaneous and explicit breaking of a symmetry, and the different particle physics problems that they help solve.