Advertisement
WHAT THE MEANING IS CRITICAL ROLE OF ELECTROMAGNETICWAVES IN ADVANCING FUNDAMENTAL SCIENCE AND VARIOUS TECHNOLOGIES
It is now well appreciated that the field of optical science and technology has been, and continues to be, one of the most important enabling forces in the entire history of human advancement in science and technology. Accordingly, a deeper understanding of the nature of light, beyond that of the current level, has now become a critical necessity. We would be able to restore the progress in physics by changing our scientific culture from benign neglect to strong emphasis on visualizing the invisible
light–matter interaction processes. A deeper understanding of the interaction processes will also help us emulate them in various novel forms to invent new technologies necessary for our sustained evolution. We need to embark anew on comprehensive foundational studies about generation, propagation, and detection of EM waves across the entire spectrum while paying close attention to light–matter interaction processes at every stage.
The existing knowledge base provides us with a solid platform to advance our knowledge horizon further by respectfully “standing on the shoulders of giants” (a la Newton) who have already contributed an enormous amount of knowledge over the millennia. This will assure the emergence of the 21st century as the century of photonics. The General Assembly of the United Nations has declared 2015 as the “Year of Light”. The unusual significance of EM waves derives from the fact that no other type of probing energy to explore natural objects has as much flexibility and capability as a scientific and engineering tool . EM waves can deliver information at an unsurpassably high data rate (fiber optic, Internet system, etc.), extract information out of materials in a wide variety of ways (spectrometric and other optical sensor technologies), deliver energy in unusually precise and controlled ways (laser material processing, laser surgery, etc.), and facilitate the visualization of information through various displays (from TV and computer screens to cell phones).
Today, we will be blind without these displays. It is the photonics-empowered fiber-optic communication system that has led human society to break into the Knowledge Age, which
will facilitate the ushering in of a new stage in human evolution, consciously constructing
a purposeful and collective evolution . The deeper significance of EM waves of all frequencies, which relates to fundamental physics, derives from the unusual diversity of their physical properties: (1) They can perpetually propagate with enormously high velocity across the entire universe without the aid of any new force. (1) They can generate the electron–positron pair with well-defined mass and charges when their frequency is around 1020Hz while interacting with heavy particles, even though they are chargeless and massless. The implication is obvious. At a deeper level, the EM waves and particles are inseparably interrelated. We need to understand the common cosmic substrate (vacuum) out of which both waves and particles emerge with distinctly different physical behavior and properties.
Hence, progress in physics will be emboldened by revisiting the foundational hypotheses behind our working theories to unite waves and matter, instead of stopping our enquiry by simply accepting wave–particle duality as the final answer. This is substantiated by many recent critical publications by Nobel Laureate authors such as Andersonand Laughlin, and renowned physicists such as Smolin, Penrose ], and others who raise questions about the direction of physics research and suggest avenues of development. The content of this book is derived from articles published by the author over several decades , a,b,c,d] in pursuit of replacing the mistaken concept of interference of waves by the physical process: superposition effect (SE) as experienced by detectors. Noninteraction of waves or the NIW property is common to all waves in the linear domain and in the absence of interacting materials. Recent publications and conferences have now started acknowledging that the foundational hypotheses behind various established theories of physics need to be revisited and revitalized to enhance the rate of progress and a new understanding in physics. Fortunately, scientists with engineering minds continue to successfully advance our technologies. In optics, the fields of nanophotonics and plasmonic photonics are advancing rapidly, all using Maxwell’s wave equation rather than propagating indivisible photons. Hence,
No comments:
Post a Comment