Collective Electrodynamics: Quantum Foundations Of Electromagnetism (Inscribed By Author)

Mead, Carver A.

ISBN 10: 0262133784 / ISBN 13: 9780262133784

Published by The MIT Press, Cambridge / London, 2000

About this Item

Xxi, 135 Pp. Blue Cloth, Silver Gilt. Second Printing. Inscribed By The Author To A Caltech Professor, Jerry Solomon: " To Jerry With High Hopes For A Deeper Understanding Of The Laws Of Nature C A Mead". As New In As New Dj. Per Wikipedia, Carver Andress Mead (Born 1934) Is An American Scientist And Engineer. He Currently Holds The Position Of Gordon And Betty Moore Professor Emeritus Of Engineering And Applied Science At The California Institute Of Technology (Caltech), Having Taught There For Over 40 Years. He Taught Deborah Chung, The First Female Engineering Graduate Of Caltech. He Advised The First Female Electrical Engineering Student At Caltech, Louise Kirkbride. His Contributions As A Teacher Include The Classic Textbook Introduction To Vlsi Systems (1980), Which He Coauthored With Lynn Conway. A Pioneer Of Modern Microelectronics, He Has Made Contributions To The Development And Design Of Semiconductors, Digital Chips, And Silicon Compilers, Technologies Which Form The Foundations Of Modern Very-Large-Scale Integration Chip Design. In The 1980S, He Focused On Electronic Modelling Of Human Neurology And Biology, Creating "Neuromorphic Electronic Systems."[5][6][7] Mead Has Been Involved In The Founding Of More Than 20 Companies.[8] Most Recently, He Has Called For The Reconceptualization Of Modern Physics, Revisiting The Theoretical Debates Of Niels Bohr, Albert Einstein And Others In Light Of Later Experiments And Developments In Instrumentation. Carver Mead Has Developed An Approach He Calls Collective Electrodynamics, In Which Electromagnetic Effects, Including Quantized Energy Transfer, Are Derived From The Interactions Of The Wavefunctions Of Electrons Behaving Collectively.[68] In This Formulation, The Photon Is A Non-Entity, And Planck's Energy?Frequency Relationship Comes From The Interactions Of Electron Eigenstates. The Approach Is Related To John Cramer's Transactional Interpretation Of Quantum Mechanics, To The Wheeler?Feynman Absorber Theory Of Electrodynamics, And To Gilbert N. Lewis's Early Description Of Electromagnetic Energy Exchange At Zero Interval[Clarification Needed] In Spacetime. Although This Reconceptualization Does Not Pertain To Gravitation, A Gravitational Extension Of It Makes Predictions That Differ From General Relativity. For Instance, Gravitational Waves Should Have A Different Polarization Under "G4v", The Name Given To This New Theory Of Gravity. Moreover, This Difference In Polarization Can Be Detected By Advanced Ligo.

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Bibliographic Details

• Title: Collective Electrodynamics: Quantum Foundations Of Electromagnetism (Inscribed By Author)
• Publisher: The MIT Press, Cambridge / London
• Publication Date: 2000
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0262133784
• ISBN 13: 9780262133784
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Printing: 2nd Printing
• Condition: Fine
• Dust Jacket Condition: As New
• Signed: Inscribed by Author(s)
• Seller catalogs:
  • Physics

About this title

Synopsis

In this book Carver Mead offers a radically new approach to the standard problems of electromagnetic theory. Motivated by the belief that the goal of scientific research should be the simplification and unification of knowledge, he describes a new way of doing electrodynamics—collective electrodynamics—that does not rely on Maxwell's equations, but rather uses the quantum nature of matter as its sole basis. Collective electrodynamics is a way of looking at how electrons interact, based on experiments that tell us about the electrons directly. (As Mead points out, Maxwell had no access to these experiments.)

The results Mead derives for standard electromagnetic problems are identical to those found in any text. Collective electrodynamics reveals, however, that quantities that we usually think of as being very different are, in fact, the same—that electromagnetic phenomena are simple and direct manifestations of quantum phenomena. Mead views his approach as a first step toward reformulating quantum concepts in a clear and comprehensible manner.

The book is divided into five sections: magnetic interaction of steady currents, propagating waves, electromagnetic energy, radiation in free space, and electromagnetic interaction of atoms. In an engaging preface, Mead tells how his approach to electromagnetic theory was inspired by his interaction with Richard Feynman.

About the Author

Carver A. Mead is the Gordon and Betty Moore Professor of Engineering and Applied Science, Emeritus, at the California Institute of Technology. He won the 1999 Lemelson-MIT Prize for Invention and Innovation.