Physical Concepts and Mathematical Models

Abstract

This chapter rests on the introduction to electricity and magnetism provided by Chapter 2. Its primary goal is to demonstrate how measurements of the biomagnetic field may be used to reveal information concerning biological sources. To unlock this information entails a somewhat lengthy chain of reasoning beginning with some careful definitions and proceeding by certain well-established physical laws to calculate the actual magnetic fields produced by various sources. The chain is then completed by comparing the measured field pattern with these predictions and thereby tracing the measured field, via an inverse process, back to its source. At present there appears to be no more direct alternative to this sequence.