It is more important to have beauty in the equations of physics than to have them agree with experiments
Question
“It is more important to have beauty in the equations of physics than to have them agree with experiments”. The great British physicist P. A. M. Dirac held this view. Criticize this statement. Look out for some equations and results in this book which strike you as beautiful.
“It is more important to have beauty in the equations of physics than to have them agree with experiments”. The great British physicist P. A. M. Dirac held this view. Criticize this statement. Look out for some equations and results in this book which strike you as beautiful.
Solution
The belief of Dirac is true. Equations representing entire concepts and hold up against experimental results are automatically simple, small and symmetrical, making them genuinely beautiful. Some beautiful equations are:
$\mathrm{E}=\mathrm{mc}^ {2} $ (Energy of Light)
$\mathrm{E}=\mathrm{hv}$ (Energy of Photon)
$\mathrm{W}=$ F.d (Work done)
P. $\mathrm{E}=\mathrm{mgh}$. (Potential energy of a body at rest)
All equations have the same dimensions. One equation shows the dependency of Energy on frequency and displacement and the other shows the dependency of Energy on speed. That is the beauty of equations coming in Physics from different experiments.
The belief of Dirac is true. Equations representing entire concepts and hold up against experimental results are automatically simple, small and symmetrical, making them genuinely beautiful. Some beautiful equations are:
$\mathrm{E}=\mathrm{mc}^ {2} $ (Energy of Light)
$\mathrm{E}=\mathrm{hv}$ (Energy of Photon)
$\mathrm{W}=$ F.d (Work done)
P. $\mathrm{E}=\mathrm{mgh}$. (Potential energy of a body at rest)
All equations have the same dimensions. One equation shows the dependency of Energy on frequency and displacement and the other shows the dependency of Energy on speed. That is the beauty of equations coming in Physics from different experiments.