As a conviction, physics need not claim that “dots and waves are all there is”, but rather, that all there is can be described on analogy with dots and waves.
I found this a very useful statement.
And then the more I thought about it, I lost why it was special. I’m not sure why that happened, or what it means. Perhaps a reversion to my dark side. If so, that was faster than I would have thought.
Do electric and magnetic fields actually exist, or are they simply a mathematical description of how charged particles move in the presence of other charged particles?
(As it turns out, the fact that Maxwell’s equations describe light entirely in terms of said fields provide a good reason to believe the former over the latter.)
Do electric and magnetic fields actually exist, or are they simply a mathematical description of how charged particles move in the presence of other charged particles?
I don’t think there is a meaningful difference between these two alternatives. What distinction do you have in mind?
I found this a very useful statement.
And then the more I thought about it, I lost why it was special. I’m not sure why that happened, or what it means. Perhaps a reversion to my dark side. If so, that was faster than I would have thought.
Do electric and magnetic fields actually exist, or are they simply a mathematical description of how charged particles move in the presence of other charged particles?
(As it turns out, the fact that Maxwell’s equations describe light entirely in terms of said fields provide a good reason to believe the former over the latter.)
I don’t think there is a meaningful difference between these two alternatives. What distinction do you have in mind?
I agree; there really isn’t a difference.
But on the other hand...