List of major dualities in physics

[david findley]

Experimenting with theoretical systems, it is important that I am aware of all possible dualities that physics concerns itself with. Such as:

Space-Time duality
Electro-Magnetic duality
Wave-Particle duality
Light-Matter duality (QED?)

...and so on.

Would anyone care to offer anything else that may be acknowledged as a dualism?...?

 

[Vorde]

Space-Time isn't really a duality, neither is electro-magnetic. Both are different parts of a larger thing, but in neither case is it two different ways of looking at the same thing.

Wave-Particle and Light-Matter is also really the same thing, but that's more semantics.

 

[Drakkith]

This depends on what you mean by "Duality". Depending on your definition one can include many things, or only a few.

 

[Bobbywhy]

Electrical and mechanical
• Duality (electrical circuits), regarding isomorphism of electrical circuits
• Duality (mechanical engineering), regarding isomorphism of some mechanical laws
Physics
• AdS/CFT correspondence, (anti de Sitter/conformal field theory correspondence), sometimes called the Maldacena duality
• Dual resonance model
• Duality (electricity and magnetism)
• Englert–Greenberger duality relation
• Holographic duality
• Kramers–Wannier duality
• List of dualities (physics)
• Mirror symmetry
• Montonen–Olive duality
• Mysterious duality
• String duality is a class of symmetries
• S-duality
• T-duality
• U-duality
• Wave–particle duality

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duality

 

[david findley]

The goal should be to list any phenomena that could possibly be considered a dualism, in any contextual reference of the term. That is, in any way possible.

How interesting, to refuse Space-Time any sense of duality. And electromagnetism as well... Is it not the case that elecromagnetism has a distinct, dual nature, (it's electric and magnetic aspects) and thus be acknowledged in terms of a dualism?

But you're right, to argue the case is merely to dispute over semantics. So, please, 'dualism' in any way in which it might be understood.

 

[Vorde]

I'd say Bobby's list is fairly complete, as Drakkith said it really all matters what you use the word duality to mean.

Just to explain what I said, I was taught duality to be applied in situations where multiple completely different approaches are equal valid, or are required to compliment each other. Spacial Dimensions and Temporal Dimensions (in the case of space-time) are two different aspects to the structure of our universe, but I wouldn't call their connection a duality, they are simply two sides to the same coin. The same with Electrostatic-Magnetism; they are two results of a single underlying force, not two different ways of looking at the same thing.