Abstract
Physics has established that reality relies on a series of phase transitions, resulting in symmetry-breaking events [1], and this can be extended to chemistry as well [2]. At a fundamental level, electrons and quarks, two elementary constituents of matter, have an intrinsic angular momentum—the spin—which, by convention, is said to be left-handed when rotation is clockwise and right-handed when it is anticlockwise. Only left-handed particles experience weak interaction or force, thus violating parity symmetry [3]. The electromagnetic field also emerges from a symmetry-breaking phenomenon, whereby it is no longer unified in an electroweak field [1]. In topological superconductors, initially symmetric crystalline structures produce spontaneous phase transitions that break time-reversal symmetry [4]. Asymmetry is also a fundamental geostatistical property, as it is a natural consequence of dynamic processes, such as land surface elevation and groundwater contamination [5].
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Afonso, J. et al. (2020). Foundations of Asymmetry. In: Asymmetry as a Foundational and Functional Requirement in Human Movement. SpringerBriefs in Applied Sciences and Technology. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-2549-0_2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-2549-0_2
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