electrodynamics

electrodynamics

electrodynamics, study of phenomena associated with charged bodies in motion and varying electric and magnetic fields (see charge; electricity); since a moving charge produces a magnetic field, electrodynamics is concerned with effects such as magnetism, electromagnetic radiation, and electromagnetic induction, including such practical applications as the electric generator and the electric motor. This area of electrodynamics, often known as classical electrodynamics, was first systematically explained by the physicist James Clerk Maxwell. Maxwell's equations, a set of differential equations, describe the phenomena of this area with great generality. A more recent development is quantum electrodynamics, which was formulated to explain the interaction of electromagnetic radiation with matter, to which the laws of the quantum theory apply. The physicists P. A. M. Dirac, W. Heisenberg, and W. Pauli were the pioneers in the formulation of quantum electrodynamics. When the velocities of the charged particles under consideration become comparable with the speed of light, corrections involving the theory of relativity must be made; this branch of the theory is called relativistic electrodynamics. It is applied to phenomena involved with particle accelerators and with electron tubes that are subject to high voltages and carry heavy currents.

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia™ Copyright © 2022, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

Electrodynamics

The study of the relations between electrical, magnetic, and mechanical phenomena. This includes considerations of the magnetic fields produced by currents, the electromotive forces induced by changing magnetic fields, the forces on currents in magnetic fields, the propagation of electromagnetic waves, and the behavior of charged particles in electric and magnetic fields. Classical electrodynamics deals with fields and charged particles in the manner first systematically described by J. C. Maxwell, whereas quantum electrodynamics applies the principles of quantum mechanics to electrical and magnetic phenomena. Relativistic electrodynamics is concerned with the behavior of charged particles and fields when the velocities of the particles approach that of light. Cosmic electrodynamics is concerned with electromagnetic phenomena occurring on celestial bodies and in space. See Electromagnetism, Quantum electrodynamics, Relativistic electrodynamics

McGraw-Hill Concise Encyclopedia of Physics. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

electrodynamics

[i‚lek·trō·dī′nam·iks]

(electromagnetism)

The study of the relations between electrical, magnetic, and mechanical phenomena.

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

electrodynamics

the branch of physics concerned with the interactions between electrical and mechanical forces

Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005