Abstract
Observables are measurable quantities such as mass, energy, momentum, spin, and other parameters which are defined in the physical manifold. Together with the notions of physical space and of symmetry groups, the observables and the conditions of observations complete the basic elements of a physical theory.
The observables themselves are usually invariant quantities in the sense that they can be measurable by different observers in different times. In this chapter we study the mathematical structure of observables, which may be in general derived from a tensor structure, but which is usually described as scalar, vector, and spinor fields.
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References
A. S. Eddington, Fundamental Theory, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (1948).
C. W. Kilmister, Eddington’s Search for a Fundamental Theory: A Key to the Universe, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (1994).
Tulio Levi-Civita, The Absolute Differential Calculus. Calculus of Tensors (first published 1926), Dover, New York, NY (2005).
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Maia, M. (2011). The Algebra of Observables. In: Geometry of the Fundamental Interactions. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-8273-5_4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-8273-5_4
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Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-4419-8272-8
Online ISBN: 978-1-4419-8273-5
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