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abstraction > mathematical concept > symmetry > gauge symmetry

gauge symmetry
subject			fact

gauge symmetry	has definition A property of modern theories of physics, formulated in the 1960s and confirmed by experiment. A symmetry, in general, is a property that allows a system to behave in the same way even though it has undergone some change. For instance, a snowflake has a 6-sided "rotational symmetry" - a snowflake appears identical after every 60 degree rotation. A gauge symmetry is something like a rotation, in which the amount of rotation can vary randomly from one point of space to the next. (See field theory.)
	has definition Symmetry principle underlying the quantum-mechanical description of the three nongravitational forces; the symmetry involves the invariance of a physical system under various shifts in the values of force charges, shifts that can change from place to place and from moment to moment.
	is a kind of symmetry
symmetry	has antonym symmetry breaking

Kinds of gauge symmetry :

• electromagnetic gauge symmetry (2 facts) - Gauge symmetry underlying quantum electrodynamics.
• strong force symmetry (2 facts) - Gauge symmetry underlying the strong force, associated with invariance of a physical system under shifts in the color charges of quarks.
• weak gauge symmetry (2 facts) - Gauge symmetry underlying the weak force.