Re: teeny atoms absorb huge EM waves

[William Beaty <billb@ESKIMO.COM>]

On Mon, 2 Aug 1999, Jim Green wrote:

> > I would say that it's a
> > propagating column of electromagnetic energy;
>
> I would not and shudder to see this in a post.

Hmmm.  I grew up with the concept that waves *are* energy.  For example,
ocean waves certainly carry energy as they propagate, and they certainly
are not composed of water.  I imagine them to be a pattern of potential
and kinetic energy (moving water parcels and high/low water parcels).

In EM, I imagine that the KE of a moving charge is almost entirely stored
as a magnetic field, and the PE of an assemblage of charges is almost
entirely stored as an electric field.  If there is a current in a shorted
inductor, or a voltage across a non-shorted capacitor, I say
"electromagnetic energy is stored in this coil/capacitor."  If the EM
fields bust loose from the charges and go tearing out across a vacuum, I
say "electromagnetic energy is propagating through space.  Photons?  In my
worldview, photons have just as much "reality" as EM fields.  Fields are
quantized as photons, while photons behave in ways which produce
wave-superposition.  Am I supposed to believe that photons are real, and
fields/waves are simply a consequence of their behavior?  Are there any
negative consequences if I reverse this, and insist that duality cuts both
ways: fields are real, while photons are simply an aspect of the fields'
behavior?

All of the above is not necessarily a rigid worldview which I will defend
beyond the bounds of reason.  I state it here so people can take pokes at
it.  Gimme your best shot!  :)


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