The Aesthetic Imperative of Lev Landau's Geometric Reductionism in Theoretical Physics

Jingxu Wu; Yuwei Yin

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arXiv · 2503.04778

The Aesthetic Imperative of Lev Landau's Geometric Reductionism in Theoretical Physics

Jingxu Wu·Yuwei Yin

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Abstract

This paper explores the ontological and epistemological foundations of Lev Landau's theoretical physics through the lens of his unpublished philosophical notes and scientific practice. We identify a unique form of geometric reductionism where physical laws emerge as inevitable consequences of symmetry breaking in progressively constrained phase spaces. Landau's dismissal of quantum interpretation debates and his famous "axiomatic minimalism" in the Course of Theoretical Physics are shown to stem from a deep epistemological commitment to dimensional aesthetics - the belief that fundamental truths must manifest through dimensional economy in mathematical representations.

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Jingxu Wu, Yuwei Yin. 2025-02-21. The Aesthetic Imperative of Lev Landau's Geometric Reductionism in Theoretical Physics. https://arxiv.org/abs/2503.04778

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