What is the difference between a wave and a field?

[Kenneth Boon Faker]

I've been reading about Quantum Field Theory. It strikes me that since the 1920's, physicists have changed the name "wave" to "field". I can't tell the difference between today's "fields" and what was described a "wave" in quantum theory in the early 1900's.

So in quantum physics, is there a difference between a wave and a field, (and if so, what is the difference), or are the two words interchangeable? (Would it be possible to answer in layman's terms please).

Many thanks

 

[anorlunda]

I've been reading about Quantum Field Theory.

The etiquette here on PF is to never make a statement like that without saying exactly what you have been reading. A hyperlink is the best way. The reason is that readers often misinterpret what they read, so they say that the source says something it does not.

I don't understand why you connect waves with fields in your mind. Think of everyday life.

We have temperature fields; meaning a value of temperature at every point in 3D space, and in time. Temperature is a scalar field.

We have wind fields with a magnitude and direction of wind at every point in 3D space and in time. Wind is a vector field because it has both magnitude and direction.

How would those fields be like waves?

It is the phrase wave-function in QFT that confuses you?

 

[Nugatory]

A field is a function whose input is a position (in space or spacetime) and whose output is some mathematical object, like a number or a vector. An example of a field whose output is a number might be the temperature in a room; it has some numerical value at every point in the room. An example of a field whose output is a vector would be the electrical field within that room; it is the force experienced by a charged test particle at a given point in the room.

A wave is any phenomenon whose behavior is described by some form of a particular differential equation, the "wave equation". Informally, that means "things that oscillate".

The two words are not even slightly interchangeable. Unfortunately I don't know any good "layman' terms, please" way of getting from the wave function of elementary quantum mechanics to quantum field theory; they are basically different formulations of the theory.

 

[Vanadium 50]

It strikes me that since the 1920's, physicists have changed the name "wave" to "field".

You're going to have to give specific examples. Otherwise, it's just the feeling of someone who doesn't understand what either one means. And given that waves and fields had definitions long before the 1920's, what you are claiming is immediately rather suspect.

 

[Kenneth Boon Faker]

The etiquette here on PF is to never make a statement like that without saying exactly what you have been reading. A hyperlink is the best way. The reason is that readers often misinterpret what they read, so they say that the source says something it does not.

ou're going to have to give specific examples

I've gathered that subatomic particles have a wave-particle nature, (http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/debrog.html#c1). The wave aspect of a particle it is not like a physical wave, but rather a probability wave, (i.e. a wave of information about where the particle is probably located etc.).

According to quantum field theory (), the fundamental buildings of the universe are not solid physical objects, but rather fields. These fields tend to ripple, which give rise to packets of energy. These packets of energy manifest as particles - electrons, neutrons, protons etc. (So even particles themselves are not solid objects rattling around.)

The fields in quantum field theory are not unlike the waves in traditional quantum theory, in the sense that they do not consist of any particular physical material. They are more like carriers of information and mathematics.

So to me, when today's physicists describe the "quantum fields", (which contain the maths and probabilities of the appearance of ripples), they are describing the same "waves" which Schrödinger, Heisenberg, Planck and Bohr described back in early 1900's.

 

[anorlunda]

". I can't tell the difference between today's "fields" and what was described a "wave" in quantum theory in the early 1900's.

But you can tell the difference between the ocean and a wave on the surface of the ocean, right?

 

[Kenneth Boon Faker]

But you can tell the difference between the ocean and a wave on the surface of the ocean, right?

That's a good analogy, which, if you think about it, also demonstrates that it's one and the same thing.

 

[anorlunda]

That's a good analogy, which, if you think about it, also demonstrates that it's one and the same thing.

How can you say that? There are not always waves on the ocean. Ocean and wave are not synonyms.

 

[Kenneth Boon Faker]

How can you say that? There are not always waves on the ocean. Ocean and wave are not synonyms.

They're made of the same 'substance', which was my original point to the thread. The difference between the ocean and quantum fields, however, is that quantum fields and quantum waves are not made of any material substance at all. They are more of an ethereal substance - the carriers of information and mathematical principles. (Dare I say it, quantum fields, which form the root and base of everything in the universe, reveal attributes more of mind and consciousness than anything physical).

 

[Nugatory]

That's a good analogy, which, if you think about it, also demonstrates that it's one and the same thing.

That's like saying that elephants and running are the same thing because elephants sometimes run.

I would buy the analogies: wave is to field as ocean wave is to ocean water and as running is to running elephant.

 

[Kenneth Boon Faker]

That's like saying that elephants and running are the same thing because elephants sometimes run.

Oceans and ocean waves are made up of water molecules. They are made of the same substance. But the same can't be said of elephants and running. Quantum fields and quantum waves are also made of the same 'substance', that's the point I've been trying to make

 

[Nugatory]

Oceans and ocean waves are made up of water molecules.

You will continue to confuse yourself if you continue to think of a wave as a moving something rather than a form of motion. To be fair however, confusion of this sort is very hard to avoid when trying to describe the concepts in natural language and by analogy instead of precisely and in the language of mathematics. If you set up and solve a few different wave problems (taut string, water wave, electromagnetic wave, ...) this entire wave vs. field problem will resolve itself - it will become clear that the wave and the thing waving are completely different things.

 

[Monsterboy]

Oceans and ocean waves are made up of water molecules. They are made of the same substance.

Consider some sound waves traveling through the air. Air is a medium made of gaseous molecules.

Can you claim that sound is "made" of air ? If that is so what happens when the sounds hits a water surface ?

You will see waves traveling on the surface, correct ?

Now, all of a sudden, sound waves "made" of air became sound waves "made" of water ? That doesn't make sense. If something is made of air, it cannot suddenly be made of water, isn't that right ?

Conclusion: Sound waves are not made of air or any substance, they are disturbances in a medium.

Waves are disturbances that propagate in a field.

 

[PeterDonis]

I came here to understand if a magnetic field and a photon field are both quantized and both radiate away from their source as waves at the same speed, and for the same distances.

Please start a new thread. You are posting in a thread that hasn't had a post in more than a year.