Abstract
In classical physics, a field is described by one or more space-time functions which satisfy certain partial differential equations. Several important examples were noted in Chap. 1: the vector potential A cl(x,t) of the electromagnetic field and the elastic displacement field u cl(x,t). One imagines a classical field as an infinite and continuous ensemble of degrees of freedom: a pair of dynamical variables is attached to each point x in space R 3, the amplitude u cl(x,t) of the field at time t and its time derivative (∂/∂t)u cl(x, t). The coupled evolution of this ensemble of degrees of freedom is governed by the differential equation of the field.
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Martin, P.A., Rothen, F. (2002). Quantum Fields. In: Many-Body Problems and Quantum Field Theory. Texts and Monographs in Physics. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-04894-8_8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-04894-8_8
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