quantum electrodynamics
1
9.9
- noun
- /ˈkwɒntəm ˌɪlɛktrəʊdaɪˈnæmɪks/
- Specialized
:
electrodinámica cuántica
- Bethe was at the center of important new developments in quantum electrodynamics and meson theory.
- quantum electrodynamics (QED)
- cavity quantum electrodynamics
- theory of quantum electrodynamics
So you have for example quantum electrodynamics, which is quantum mechanics applied to electromagnetism.
- So you have for example quantum electrodynamics, which is quantum mechanics applied to electromagnetism.
- And then I guess that was then the bedrock on which Feynman and Schwinger and Tom and Arga built quantum electrodynamics, which is the first kind of complete quantum field theory.
Examples
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This approach opened the way for major conceptual and computational advances in quantum electrodynamics.
Academic text (1995) -
Although quantum electrodynamics is the well-established and fundamental theory of electromagnetic interactions, it was initially applied only to the simplest of processes.
Academic text (2005) -
and offering generously to send along a large book on quantum electrodynamics.
Blog text (14) -
So we switch gear now and talk about quantum electrodynamics QED.
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Julian Schwinger's work is a classic contribution to quantum electrodynamics.
Academic text (2006) -
So you have for example quantum electrodynamics, which is quantum mechanics applied to electromagnetism.
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Local gauge symmetry was known to be an essential feature of quantum electrodynamics (QED), the theory for the interaction between electrons and photons.
Academic text (1999) -
Relativistic invariance and gauge invariance constrain the formally divergent expressions appearing in quantum electrodynamics calculations.
Academic text (1995) -
The hyperfine interaction, however, required a relativistic treatment, and it spurred the development of relativistic quantum electrodynamics by Schwinger, Richard Feynman, Sin-itiro Tomonaga, and others.
Academic text (1993) -
The theory of quantum electrodynamics predicts the energy levels of this system with 12 digits of precision.
Synonyms
2
9.9
A theory that explains how light and tiny particles like electrons interact
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase is a regular compositional compound: 'quantum' (the discrete/quantized theory) + 'electrodynamics' (the study of electromagnetic interactions), so a learner who knows both constituents can infer it refers to the quantum theory of electromagnetic interactions. This follows a common semantic pattern (X + field = the quantum version of X) and is therefore transparently interpretable, even if precise technical details (photons, Feynman diagrams) require specialist knowledge.
Etymology
Quantum electrodynamics joins quantum, meaning 'tiny packets' of energy, and electrodynamics, meaning 'electric forces when charges move'. So the name gives a picture of tiny packets of light and charged particles moving and pushing and pulling each other, which is why it means the theory of how light and matter interact.