Curie's principle, or Curie's symmetry principle, is a maxim about cause and effect formulated by

Pierre Curie Pierre Curie ( ; ; 15 May 1859 – 19 April 1906) was a French physicist, Radiochemistry, radiochemist, and a pioneer in crystallography, magnetism, piezoelectricity, and radioactivity. He shared the 1903 Nobel Prize in Physics with his wife, ...

in 1894: The idea was based on the ideas of

Franz Ernst Neumann Franz Ernst Neumann (11 September 1798 – 23 May 1895) was a German mineralogist and physicist. He devised the first formulas to calculate inductance. He also formulated Neumann's law for molecular heat. In electromagnetism, he is credited for ...

and Bernhard Minnigerode. Thus, it is sometimes known as the Neuman–Minnigerode–Curie principle. Later physicists have interpreted Curie's principle in the context of thermodynamics. Dynamics close to equilibrium are described by a set of transport coefficients whose symmetries must match the symmetries of the system, according to Curie's principle.

References

Group theory {{Sci-stub Concepts in physics Symmetry