Word and phrase study

WORD AND PHRASE STUDY
• Pay attention to the prefixes. Guess the meaning of the following words:

trans- = across — transmit, transform, transduce, translate, transfer, transplant

mis- = wrong —misunderstand, miscalculate, mislead, mispronounce, misbehave, misinform

со- = together with — cooperate, coordinate, coincidence, coaxial, coworker

semi- = half — semiconductor, semicircle, semisphere, semifinal, semiofficial
READING (17A)
• Read the passage below and classify the symmetries described in it.

SYMMETRIES

Symmetries and apparent symmetries in the laws of nature have played a part in the construction of physical theories since the time of Galileo and Newton. The most familiar symmetries are spatial or geometric ones. In a snowflake, for example, the presence of a symmetrical pattern can be detected at a glance. The symmetry can be defined as an invariance in the pattern that is observed when some transformation is applied to it. In the case ofthe snowflake the transformation is a rotation by 60 degrees, or one-sixth of a circle. If the initial position is noted and the snowflake is then turned by 60 degrees (or by any integer multiple of 60 degrees), no change will be perceived. The snowflake is invariant with respect to 60-degree rotations. According to the same principle a square is invariant with respect to 90-degrce rotations and a circle is said to have continuous symmetry because rotation by any angle leaves it unchanged.

Although the concept of symmetry had its origin in geometry, it is general enough to embrace invariance with respect to transformations ofother kinds. An example of a nongeometric symmetry is the charge symmetry of electromagnetism. Suppose a number of electrically charged particles have been set out in some definite configuration and all the forces acting between pairs of particles have been measured. If the polarity ofall the charges is then reversed, the forces remain unchanged.

Another symmetry ofthe nongeometric kind concerns isotopic spin, a property of protons and ofthe many related particles called hadrons, which are the only particles responsive to the strong force. The basis of the symmetry lies in the observation that the proton and the neutron are remarkably similar particles. They differ in mass by only about a tenth of a per cent, and except for their electric charge they arc identical in all other properties. It therefore seems that all protons and neutrons could be interchanged and the strong interactions would hardly be altered. If the electromagnetic forces (which depend on electric charge) could somehow be turned off, the isotopic-spin symmetry would be exact; in reality it is only approximate.

Although the proton and the neutron seem to be distinct particles and it is hard to imagine a state of matter intermediate between them, it turns out that symmetry with respect to isotopic spin is a continuous symmetry, like the symmetry of a sphere rather than like that of a snowflake.

All the symmetries wc discussed so far can be characterized as global symmetries; in this context the word global means «happening everywhere at once». In the description of isotopic-spin symmetry this constraint was made explicit: the internal rotation that transforms protons into neutrons and neutrons into protons is to be carried out everywhere in the universe at the same time. In addition to global symmetries, which arc almost always present in a physical theory, it is possible to have a «local» symmetry, in which the convention can be decided independently at every point in space and every moment in time. Although «local» may suggest something of more modest scope than a global symmetry, in fact the requirement of local symmetry places a far more stringent constraint on the construction of a theory. A global symmetry states that some law of physics remains invariant when the same transformation is applied everywhere at once. For a local symmetry to be observed the law of physics must retain its validity even when a different transformation takes place at each point in space and time.
• Re-read the passage and find English equivalents for the following Russian terms.

симметрия — явная/пространственная/(не)геометрическая/в миро­вом масштабе/локальная/нспрерывная/сп ии-изотопная/зарядная
• Look through the passage and find English equivalents for the following Russian phrases.

с первого взгляда; удивительно схожие частицы; вряд ли бы измени­лись; по-видимому, разные частицы; повсюду; одновременно; можно принять условие; намного более сильное ограничение; сохранить свое значение

• Answer the following questions.

1. What is symmetry?
2. Why is the concept of symmetry important?
3. What symmetries are there in the world?
4. What arc the most familiar of them and why?
5. What symmetries are called local/global?
6. What examples of gcometrie/nongeometric symmetries could you give?

CLASSWORK
READING (17B)
• Read the article by Graham P. Collins from May 2001 and make an appropriate comment on the discovery made. What does the author mean by the title? What dog and what trick docs he mean?
NEW TRICK FROM OLD DOG

A Magnesium Compound Is a Startling Superconductor by Graham P. Collins
You can buy magnesium boride ready-made from chemical suppliers as a black powder. The compound has been known since 1950s and has typically been used as a reagent in chemical reactions. But until this year (2001) no one knew that at 39 degrees above absolute zero it conducts electric current perfectly — it is a superconductor. Although its superconducting temperature is far below that ofthe copper oxide high-temperature superconductors, the compound has set off a flurry of excited activity among researchers. Mag­nesium boride overturned theorists’ expectations and promises technological applications.

Jun Akimitsu of Tokyo University anounced the surprising discovery at a conference in Japan on January 10, after he and his workers stumbled on magnesium boride’s properties while trying to make more complicated materials involving magnesium and boron.

Word ofthe discovery spread around the world by e-mail and in three weeks the first research papers by othergroups were posted on the Internet.

In early March, a special session on magnesium boride was hastily put together in Seattle at the American Physical Society’s largest annual con­ference: from 8 p.m. until long after midnight, nearly 80 researchers presented ultrabrief summaries on their results.

Until January, standard wisdom ruled out the possibility of a conventional Superconductor operating above about 30 kelvins. Conventional super­conductors are understood by the so-called BCS theory, formulated in 1957. The magnesium boride result seemed to imply that either a new superconducting mechanism had been discovered or that the BCS theory needed to be revised.

Almost all the experimental evidence so far supports the idea that magnesium boride is a standard BCS superconductor, unlike the copper oxides. For example, when researchers use the isotope boron 10 in place of boron 11, the material critical temperature rises slightly, as expected, because the lighter isotope alters vibrations ofthe material’s lattice of atoms, a key component of BCS theory. How, then, has the magic 30 kelvins been exceeded?

Perhaps, those predictions were premature. Magnesium boride has a combination of low-mass atoms and favourable electron states, that was overlooked as a possibility.

Physicists are trying to push the BCS’ limit even further to produce higher critical temperatures by doping the material with carefully selected impurities. Groups have added aluminium or carbon (neighbours of boron in the periodic table), but these both decrease the critical temperature. Calcium is expected to work better, but no one has succeeded in producing calcium-doped magnesium boride.

Even undoped, magnesium boride has several attractive features for applications. First, the higher operating temperature would allow cooling ofthe superconductor by refrigeration instead of by expensive liquid helium, as is needed for the most widely used superconductors.

The high-temperature copper oxide superconductors beat magnesium boride hands-down on that count but they have proved difficult to manufacture into convenient wires. Also, the supcrcurrent does not flow well across the boundaries of microscopic grains in copper oxides.

Magnesium boride, in contrast, has already been fashioned into wires using simple techniques, and the supercurrent flows effortlessly between grains. One drawback, however, is that magnesium boride loses its super­conductivity in relatively weak magnetic fields, fields that are inescapable in applications. But with the progress seen already in a scant few months, researchers are confident they can overcome such problems.
HOMEWORK

(to be done in writing)
1. Translate into Russian. Pay special attention to the word one in different meanings.

1. We could offer you a number of challenging problems, but this one seems to be the most attractive.

1. One should find a simple and elegant solution ofthe problem.
2. No one seems to have dealt with this problem yet.
3. One should mention the problem under investigation in our lab.
4. No one seems to have formulated this problem in precise terms.
5. This is one ofthe most confusing and puzzling problems we have ever dealt with.
6. This problem seemstobc much more complicated than all the previous ones.

8. No one has yet presented it in all its complexity.
2. Translate into English.

Зеркальная (mirror/reflection) симметрия является первым случа­ем геометрического понятия симметрии, относящейся к таким опера­циям, как отражение или вращение. Симметрия является той идеей, посредством которой человек на протяжении веков пытался понять и создать порядок, красоту и совершенство (perfection). Первые (early) ученые считали окружность на плоскости и сферу в пространстве наи­более совершенными геометрическими фигурами.

Что можно назвать математической философией левого и правого? Сточки зрения научного мышления, между левым и правым не суще­ствует полярной противоположности. Пространство изучается геомет­рией. Но пространство также служит средой всех физических явле­ний. Структура физического мира проявляется (reveal) во всеобщих законах природы. Во всей физике нет ничего, что указывало бы на внутреннее различие между левым и правым. Левое и правое эквива­лентны так же, как все точки и все направления в пространстве.

UNIT EIGHTEEN
GRAMMAR: ГЛАГОЛ WOULD
Would Глагол обозначает волеизъявление, желание, склонность к выполнению действия. Чаще употребляется в отрицательной форме, означая упорное нежелание совершить действие. Относительно неодушевленных предметов или явлений означает неспособность предмета выполнитьдействие,для которого он предназначен, или недостаточность условий для реализации явления.

Would not We did everything to persuade him but he would not change (Никак) не the procedure of his experiment.

Мыделали все, чтобы убедить его, ноон(никак) не хотел изменить процедуру эксперимента.
Would

1) a) Future in the Past

He wrote he would return in a week. Он писал, что вернется через неделю.

b) The Subjunctive Mood

It would be extremely interesting to attend this conference. Было бы очень интересно присутствовать на этой конферен­ция.

2) a) We tried to open the door but it wouldn’t.

Мы пытались открыть дверь, но она никак не открывалась.

Ь) вежливая просьба

Would you give me your English textbook?

He дадите ли мне ваш учебник по английскому языку?
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3) would = used to — бывало, обычно, имел обыкновение

Не would work (used to work) in his lab for ten hours.

Он имел обыкновение работать всвоей лаборатории по 10 часов.

Note: В научно-технической литературе would в этом значении на рус­ский язык не переводится.

Sometimes the device would fail. Иногда прибор ломался.
• Sentences to be translated.

1. We asked them whether they would change the conditions of the experiment.

1. They tried to raise the temperature but it wouldn’t.
2. The device was tested several times and it would always prove correct.

1. Were the surface of the material highly polished, the friction would be less.

1. There would be no progress in science without observations.

1. The density of the medium would change with temperature no matter what measures they took.
2. There were electron tube devices in our laboratories but now they are replaced by semiconductor ones.
3. It would be desirable that all necessary calculations be made before the experiment starts.

WORD AND PHRASE STUDY
anypron. — любой, всякий (утверд. предложение)

any kind — всякого рода

in any case (event) — в любом случае

any longer — больше не (syn. any more, no longer, no more)

hardly any — почти ничего

if any — если вообще (таковые имеются), если только
• Sentences to be translated.

1. If this is the case, it is difficult to measure any internal properties of the plasma by any ofthe conventional methods.
2. One can obtain very poor, if any, data on this event.
3. Any of these approaches will hold.

4. Гп any event one should bear in mind that the information obtained may be misleading as to the course ofthe reaction.
READING (18A)
• Read the passage below and find the answer for the following question:

Which symmetries, global or local, hold the greatest interest for physicists today and why?
GAUGE THEORIES¹

An understanding of how the world is put together requires a theory of how the elementary particles of matter interact with one another. Equrvalently. it requires a theory of the basic forces-of nature. Four such forces have been identified, and until recently a different kind of theory was needed for each of them. Two ofthe forces, gravitation and elcctromagnetism, have an unlimited range; largely for this reason they arc familiar to everyone. They can be felt directly as agencies that push or pull. The remaining forces, which are called simply the weak force and the strongforce, cannot be perceived directly because their influence extends only over a short range, no larger than the radius of an atomic nucleus. The strong force binds together the protons and the neutrons in the nucleus, and in another context it binds together the particles called quarks that are thought to be the constituents of protons and neutrons. The weak force is mainly res

ponsible forthe decay of certain particles.

A long-standing ambition of physicists has been to construct a single master theory that would incorporate all the known forces. One imagines that such a theory would reveal some deep connection between the various forces while accounting for their apparent diversity. Such a unification has not yet been attained, but in recent years some progress may have been made. The weak force and elcctromagnetism can now be understood in the context of a single theory. Although the two forces remain distinct, in the theory they become mathematically intertwined. What may ultimately prove more important, all four forces are now described by means of theories that have the same general form. Thus if physicists have yet to find a single key that fits all the known locks, at least all the needed keys can be cut from the same blank. The theories in this single favored class are formally designated non-Abelian gauge theories with local symmetry. What is meant by this forbidding label is the main topic of this article. For now, it will suffice to note that the theories relate the properties ofthe forces to symmetries of nature.

Related Papers

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Blackwell Publishing, 2001. — xix, 267 p. — ISBN10: 063120833X

This book fills a gap in studies of meaning by providing detailed case studies of attested corpus data on the meanings of words and phrases.

Review
«This invaluable book places words and their phraseology at the centre of an account of language that covers meaning, discourse, culture, and much more. The author successfully demystifies his own discovery processes, providing the reader with tools for further investigation. The book’s clarity and depth make it indispensable for students and researchers alike.» Susan Hunston, University of Birmingham

«Stubbs does a great job of demonstrating the use of corpus techniques for the analysis of lexical semantics. He shows that it is indeed possible to analyze meaning by looking at corpus data, and that the way meaning is constructed through repeated patterns of usage can only be investigated by doing so. His style is very explicit, and his prose is easily readable. I well definitely be using this book in my seminars next term.» Oliver Mason, Literary and Linguistic Computing