Electromagnetism Quotes

“Weak interaction”

“The special theory of relativity owes its origins to Maxwell's equations of the electromagnetic field.”

“Wikipedia: Electromagnetism”

“[T]here does not seem to be definite experimental evidence to indicate that the electronic mass is entirely electromagnetic.”

“It is electromagnetism... in all its many forms, that has been so basic, that haunts us and guides us [in the development of transistor electronics].”

“There are many, many "why" questions. Also a number of 'how' questions. What is the mechanism that causes the weak interactions to be weak and the electromagnetic interactions not weak?”

“It's of no use whatsoever. This is just an experiment that proves Maestro Maxwell was right—we just have these mysterious electromagnetic waves that we cannot see with the naked eye. But they are there.”

“Electromagnetism*a href="http://www.gcsescience.com" target="_blank">gcsescience.com: The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE)”

“Strong, weak and electromagnetic interaction are evidently part of a grand unified theory. These temperatures are today quite inaccessible. They were achieved only in the earliest moments of the Big Bang. Since then, the universe has congealed, losing its symmetry.”

“I have also cleared the electromagnetic theory of light from all unwarrantable assumption, so that we may safely determine the velocity of light by measuring the attraction between bodies kept at a given difference of potential, the value of which is known in electromagnetic measure.”

“In the development of electromagnetic theory, there has been a continual and significant trend, which in a way has set the pattern for the development of all of theoretical physics. This has been the trend away from the concept known as "action at a distance" toward the concept of field theory.”

“The color gauge theory postulates the existence of eight massless particles, sometimes called gluons, that are the carriers of the strong force just as the photon is the carrier of the electromagnetic force.”

“Electromagnetic fields... are neither charged nor magnetized and thus cannot contribute to their own source. The general theory does reveal a new feature of electromagnetic fields... Since they have energy, they produce gravitational effects and thus affect the structure of space-time, which, in turn, means that an electromagnetic field can affect the motion of non-charged matter.”

“In this corner, static electricity: the spark... In that corner, magnetism: the trusty realignment of the compass needle. Two different forces?
No. The difference is only superficial, because both interactions arise from a single source, the electric charge. An electrostatic field comes about from charges at rest, and the magnetic field comes about from charges in motion. And since motion and rest are merely matters of opinion, who is to say which is which?”

“This fact, that all charges are integral multiples of a fundamental unit, is still one of the unexplained puzzles of fundamental physics. It does not in any way contradict electromagnetic theory, but it is not predicted by it, and until we have a more fundamental theory that explains it, we shall not feel that we really understand electromagnetic phenomena thoroughly. Presumably its explanation will not come until we understand quantum theory more thoroughly than we do at present.”

“In electromagnetism... the law of the inverse square had been supreme, but, as a consequence of the work of Faraday and Maxwell, it was superseded by the field. And the same change took place in the theory of gravitation. By and by the material particles, electrically charged bodies, and magnets which are the things that we actually observe come to be looked upon only as "singularities" in the field.”

“How can neutrinos be produced in the center of the sun and how can they be detected in laboratories here on earth if they are subject neither to the strong force nor to the electromagnetic one? Another force, the so-called weak force, is responsible. The electron neutrino does participate in that interaction, along with the electron.”

“Although the Special Theory of Relativity does not account for electromagnetic phenomena, it explains many of their properties. General Relativity, however, tells us nothing about electromagnetism. In Einstein's space-time continuum gravitational forces are absorbed in the geometry, but the electromagnetic forces are quite unaffected. Various attempts have been made to generate the geometry of space-time so as to produce a unified field theory incorporating both gravitational and electromagnetic forces.”

“After ten years of reflection such a principle resulted from a paradox upon which I had already hit at the age of sixteen: If I pursue a beam of light with the velocity c (velocity of light in a vacuum), I should observe such a beam as a spatially oscillatory electromagnetic field at rest. However, there seems to be no such thing, whether on the bases of experience or according to Maxwell's equations. From the very beginning it appeared to me intuitively clear that, judged from the stand-point of such an observer, everything would have to happen according to the same laws as for an observer who, relative to the earth, was at rest.”

“The third closed system of concepts and axioms has its origin in the phenomena of electricity and magnetism and has reached its final form in the first decade of the twentieth century through the work of Lorentz, Einstein and Minkowski. It comprises electrodynamics, special relativity, optics, magnetism, and one may include the de Broglie theory of matter waves of all different sorts of elementary particles, but not the wave theory of Schrodinger.”