Phenomena characteristic of the electromagnetic picture of the world. Development of an electromagnetic picture of the world. on the topic: “Electromagnetic picture of the world”

Section 1. Mechanical scientific picture of the world……………………..3-5

Section 2. Electromagnetic scientific picture of the world..……………….6-8

Section 3 Quantum-relativistic scientific picture of the world…………..9-10

Conclusions…………………………………………………………………………………11-13

Literature……………………………………………………………....14

Section 1 . Mechanical scientific picture of the world.

In the history of science, scientific pictures of the world did not remain unchanged, but replaced each other, thus we can talk about the evolution of scientific pictures of the world. The most obvious is the evolution of physical pictures of the world: natural philosophical - until the 16th-17th centuries, mechanistic - until the second half of the 19th century, thermodynamic (within the framework of mechanistic theory) in the 19th century, relativistic and quantum mechanical in the 20th century.

The mechanical picture of the world was formed under the influence of materialistic ideas about matter and the forms of its existence. The fundamental ideas of this picture of the World are classical atomism, dating back to Democritus, and the so-called mechanism. The very formation of the mechanical picture is rightly associated with the name of Galileo Galilei, who first used it to study nature. experimental method together with measurements of the quantities under study and subsequent mathematical processing of the results. This method was fundamentally different from the previously existing natural philosophical method, in which a priori (

The laws of planetary motion discovered by Johannes Kepler, in turn, indicated that there is no fundamental difference between the movements of earthly and celestial bodies (as Aristotle believed), since they all obey certain natural laws.

The core of the mechanical picture of the world is Newtonian mechanics (classical mechanics). The formation of classical mechanics and the mechanical picture of the world based on it occurred in 2 directions:

1) generalization of the previously obtained results and, above all, the laws of free fall of bodies discovered by Galileo, as well as the laws of planetary motion formulated by Kepler;

2) creating methods for quantitative analysis of mechanical motion in general.

In the first half of the 19th century. Along with theoretical mechanics, applied (technical) mechanics also stands out, having achieved great success in solving applied problems. All this led to the idea of the omnipotence of mechanics and to the desire to create a theory of heat and electricity also on the basis of mechanical concepts. This idea was expressed most clearly in 1847 by the physicist Hermann Helmholtz in his report “On the Conservation of Force”: “The ultimate task of the physical sciences is to

natural phenomena can be reduced to constant attractive and repulsive forces, the magnitude of which depends on the distance.”

In any physical theory there are quite a lot of concepts, but among them there are basic ones, in which the specificity of this theory, its basis, and ideological essence are manifested. These concepts include the so-called fundamental concepts, namely:

Matter,

Movement,

Space,

Interaction.

Each of these concepts cannot exist without the other four.

The most important principles of the mechanical picture of the world are:

The principle of relativity

Long-range principle

The principle of causality.

Galileo's principle of relativity. Galileo's principle of relativity states that all inertial frames of reference (IRS) from the point of view of mechanics are completely equal (equivalent). The transition from one ISO to another is carried out on the basis of Galilean transformations

The principle of long-range action. In the mechanical picture of the world, it was accepted that interaction is transmitted instantly, and the intermediate medium does not take part in the transmission of interaction. This position was called the principle of long-range action.

The principle of causality. As has already been said, in the mechanical picture of the world, all the diversity of natural phenomena is transferred to the mechanical form of the movement of matter (mechanistic materialism, mechanicism). On the other hand, it is known that there are no causeless phenomena, that it is always possible (in principle) to distinguish cause and effect. Cause and effect are interconnected and influence each other. The effect of one cause may be the cause of another effect. This idea was developed by the mathematician Laplace, stating the following: “Every existing phenomenon is connected with its predecessor on the basis of the obvious principle that it cannot arise without a producing cause. The opposite opinion is an illusion of the mind.” those. Laplace believed that all connections between phenomena are carried out on the basis of unambiguous laws. This doctrine of the conditionality of one phenomenon by another, of their unambiguous natural connection, entered physics as the so-called Laplace determinism (determinism - predetermination).

Section 2. Electromagnetic picture of the world.

The greatest contribution to the formation of this idea of the world was made by the works of M. Faraday and D. Maxwell. After the latter created, on the basis of the phenomenon of electromagnetic induction discovered by Faraday, the theory of electro magnetic field It became possible to talk about the emergence of an electromagnetic picture of the world.

Maxwell's theory of the electromagnetic field marked the beginning of a new stage in physics. In accordance with it, the world began to appear as a single electrodynamic system, built from electrically charged particles interacting through an electromagnetic field.

The most important concepts of the new theory are: charge, which can be either positive or negative; field strength is the force that would act on a body carrying a unit charge if it were located at the point in question.

When electric charges move relative to each other, an additional magnetic force is created. Therefore, the total force that combines the electric (resting charges) and magnetic (moving charges) forces is called electromagnetic. The entire diversity of these forces and charges is described by the system of equations of classical electrodynamics. These are known as Maxwell's equations. This is C. Coulomb's law, which is completely equivalent to Newton's law of universal gravitation; magnetic lines of force are continuous and have neither beginning nor end, magnetic charges do not exist; electric field created by an alternating magnetic field; magnetic field can be created as electric shock, and an alternating electric field.

Thus, new physical and philosophical views on matter, space, time and forces were put forward, which largely changed the previous mechanical picture of the world. But it cannot be said that these changes were radical, since they were carried out within the framework of classical science. Therefore, the new electromagnetic picture of the world can be considered intermediate, combining both new ideas and old mechanistic ideas about the world.

The concept of movement has also expanded. It began to be understood not only as a simple mechanical movement, but also as the propagation of vibrations in a field. Accordingly, Newton's laws of mechanics gave way to Maxwell's laws of electrodynamics.

The electromagnetic picture of the world required a new solution to the problem of physical interaction. Newton's principle of long-range action was replaced by Faraday's principle of short-range action, which stated that any interactions are transmitted by the field from point to point, continuously and with a finite speed.

They were still trying to exclude randomness from the physical picture of the world. But in the middle of the 19th century. For the first time, a fundamental physical theory of a new type appeared, which was based on the theory of probability. This was the kinetic theory of gases, or statistical mechanics. Randomness and probability finally found their place in physics and were reflected in the form of so-called statistical laws. True, so far physicists have not given up hope of finding clear, unambiguous laws similar to Newton’s laws behind the probabilistic characteristics, and considered the newly created theory to be an intermediate option, a temporary measure. Nevertheless, progress was evident: the concept of probability entered the electromagnetic picture of the world.

The idea of the place and role of man in the Universe did not change in the electromagnetic picture of the world. His appearance was considered only a whim of nature.

The electromagnetic picture of the world explained a large range of physical phenomena that were incomprehensible from the point of view of the previous mechanical concept of the world. However, its further development showed that it is relative in nature. Therefore, it was replaced by a new - quantum-field - picture of the world, which combined the discreteness of the mechanical picture of the world and the continuity of the electromagnetic picture of the world. These unambiguous connections between phenomena

Section 3. Quantum field picture of the world.

The modern quantum field picture of the world is based on a new physical theory - quantum mechanics, which describes the state and movement of microparticles (elementary particles, atoms, molecules, atomic nuclei) and their systems, as well as the connection between quantities characterizing particles and systems with physical quantities, directly measurable experimentally. The laws of quantum mechanics form the basis for the study of the structure of matter. They make it possible to clarify the structure of atoms, establish the nature of chemical bonds, explain the periodic system of elements, and study the properties of elementary particles.

In accordance with the quantum field picture of the world, any microobject, having wave and corpuscular properties, does not have a specific trajectory of movement and cannot have certain coordinates and speed (momentum). In quantum mechanics, unlike classical physics, the behavior of each microparticle is subject to statistical, rather than dynamic, laws.

The general picture of reality in the quantum field picture of the world is, as it were, two-dimensional: on the one hand, it includes the characteristics of the object under study, and on the other, the observation conditions on which the certainty of these characteristics depends. This means that the picture of reality in modern physics is not only a picture of an object, but also a picture of the process of its cognition.

Gone are the ideas about the immutability of matter, about the possibility of reaching the final limit of its divisibility.

The idea of motion changes radically, which becomes only a special case of fundamental physical interactions, of which there are four known types: gravitational, electromagnetic, strong and weak.

The specificity of quantum field concepts of regularity and causality is that they always appear in a probabilistic form, in the form of so-called statistical laws, which contribute to a deeper level of knowledge of natural laws. Thus, it turned out that the world is based on chance and probability.

Also, the new picture of the world for the first time included an observer, on whose presence the obtained research results depended. Moreover, the so-called anthropic principle was formulated, which states that our world is what it is only thanks to the existence of man. From now on, the emergence of man is considered a natural result of the evolution of the Universe.

Conclusions.

Each of the considered pictures of the world interprets concepts; matter space and time in different ways. According to - this is a substance consisting of the smallest, further indivisible, absolutely solid moving particles - atoms, i.e. in the MCM, discrete (discrete - “discontinuous”), or, in other words, corpuscular concepts of matter were adopted. That is why the most important concepts in mechanics were the concepts of a material point and an absolutely rigid body (a material point is a body whose dimensions can be neglected in the conditions of a given problem; an absolutely rigid body is a system of material points, the distance between which always remains unchanged).

Space. Let us remember that Aristotle denied the existence of empty space, connecting space, time and motion. Atomists of the 18th-19th centuries. on the contrary, they recognized atoms and empty space in which atoms move. Newton, however, considered two types of space:

· relative, which people become familiar with by measuring the spatial relationships between bodies;

· absolute, which by its very essence is irrespective of anything external and always remains the same and motionless; those. absolute space is an empty container of bodies, it is not associated with time, and its properties do not depend on the presence or absence of material objects in it. Space in Newtonian mechanics is

Subsequently, A. Einstein, analyzing the concepts of absolute space and absolute time, wrote: “If matter disappeared, then only space and time would remain (a kind of stage on which physical phenomena are played out).” In this case, space and time do not contain any special “markers” from which one could count and answer the questions “Where?” and when?" Therefore, to study material objects in them, it is necessary to introduce a reference system (coordinate system and clock). A reference system rigidly connected to absolute space is called inertial. Space in Newtonian mechanics is:

Three-dimensional (the position of any point can be described by three coordinates),

Continuous

Endless

Isotropic (properties of space do not depend on direction).

Spatial relationships in MCM are described by Euclidean geometry.

Time. Newton considered two types of time, similar to space: relative and absolute. People learn relative time in the process of measurements, and absolute (true, mathematical time) by itself and in its essence, without any relation to anything external, flows evenly and is otherwise called duration. Thus, Newton’s time is similar to space – an empty container of events that does not depend on anything. Time flows in one direction - from the past to the future.

In turn, in quantum field picture of the world The ideas about the relativity of space and time and their dependence on matter are finally established. They cease to be independent of each other and, according to the theory of relativity, merge into a single four-dimensional space-time, which does not exist outside of material bodies.

IN electromagnetic picture of the world ideas about matter have changed dramatically.

They are strictly separated, and their transformation into each other is impossible. The main one is the field, which means that the main property of matter is continuity as opposed to discreteness.

The electromagnetic picture of the world has made a real revolution in physics. It was based on the ideas of the continuity of matter, the material electric field, the inseparability of matter and movement, the connection of space and time both with each other and with moving matter. A new understanding of the essence of matter has confronted scientists with the need to revise and reassess these fundamental qualities of matter.

Literature.

1) Sadokhin A.P. Concepts of modern natural science: tutorial. M.: Omega-L, 2008. -239 p.

2) Lipovko P.O. Concepts of modern natural science. Textbook for universities. Rostov n/d: Phoenix, 2004. - 512 p.

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The electromagnetic picture of the world began to take shape in the second half of the 19th century. based on research in the field of electromagnetism. The main role here was played by the research of M. Faraday and D. Maxwell, who introduced the concept of a physical field. In the process of forming this concept, the mechanical model of the ether was replaced by an electromagnetic model: electric, magnetic and electromagnetic fields were initially interpreted as different “states” of the ether. Subsequently, the need for broadcasting disappeared. The understanding has come that the electromagnetic field itself is a certain type of matter and its propagation does not require any special medium—the ether.

The electromagnetic picture of the world continued to form over three decades of the 20th century. She used not only the doctrine of magnetism and the achievements of atomism, but also some ideas of modern physics (the theory of relativity and quantum mechanics). After various fields, along with matter, became the object of study of physics, the picture of the world acquired a more complex character, but it was still a picture of classical physics.

Its main features are as follows. According to this picture, matter exists in two forms - substance and field, between which there is an impassable line: matter does not turn into a field and vice versa. Two types of fields are known - electromagnetic and gravitational, respectively - two types of fundamental interactions. Fields, unlike matter, are continuously distributed in space. Electromagnetic interaction explains not only electrical and magnetic phenomena, but also others - optical, chemical, thermal. Now everyone is trying to reduce it to electromagnetism. Outside the sphere of dominance of electromagnetism, only gravity remains.

Three particles are considered as the elementary “building blocks” of which all matter is composed: electron, proton and photon. Photons are quanta of the electromagnetic field. Particle-wave dualism “reconciles” the wave nature of the field with the corpuscular one, i.e. When considering the electromagnetic field, corpuscular (photon) concepts are used, along with wave ones. The elementary "building blocks" of matter are electrons and protons. Matter consists of molecules, molecules are made of atoms, an atom has a massive nucleus and an electron shell. The nucleus consists of protons. The forces acting in matter were reduced to electromagnetic ones. These forces are responsible for intermolecular bonds and bonds between atoms in a molecule; they hold the electrons of the atomic shell near the nucleus; they also ensure the strength of the atomic nucleus (which turned out to be incorrect). Electrons and protons are stable particles, so atoms and their nuclei are also stable. The picture, at first glance, looked flawless. But such “little things”, as was considered then, did not fit into this framework, for example, radioactivity, etc. It soon became clear that these “little things” were fundamental. It was they who led to the “collapse” of the electromagnetic picture of the world.

The electromagnetic picture of the world represented a huge step forward in understanding the world. Many of its details have been preserved in the modern natural science picture: the concept of a physical field, the electromagnetic nature of forces responsible for various phenomena in matter (but not in the atoms themselves), the nuclear model of the atom, dualism (duality) of the corpuscular and wave properties of matter, etc. But this picture of the world is also dominated by unambiguous cause-and-effect relationships, everything is rigidly predetermined in the same way. Probabilistic physical laws are not recognized as fundamental and therefore are not included in it. These probabilities were assigned to groups of molecules, and the molecules themselves still followed unambiguous Newtonian laws. Ideas about the place and role of man in the Universe have not changed. Thus, the electromagnetic picture of the world is also characterized by metaphysical thinking, where everything is clearly demarcated and there are no internal contradictions.

Physicists during the 19th century tried to explain electromagnetic phenomena in a mechanical picture of the world. But these attempts were failures, since electromagnetic phenomena were too different from mechanical processes. M. Faraday and J. Maxwell made a significant contribution to the formation of the electromagnetic picture of the world. The theory of the electromagnetic field created by J. Maxwell became the reason for the emergence of the electromagnetic picture of the world.

Maxwell developed a theory based on a phenomenon called the phenomenon of electromagnetic induction. Faraday conducted experiments using a magnetic boom, trying to explain the nature of magnetic and electrical phenomena. After the experiment, he came to the conclusion that the rotation of the magnetic needle does not depend on the electrical charges that are in the conductor, but on a special state environment, which appeared next to the magnetic needle. This meant that the current interacts with the magnetic needle using the medium surrounding the conductor. Thus, the concept of a field was introduced as a set of magnetic lines of force crossing space and inducing an electric current. This discovery made Faraday understand that ideas about matter are continual, continuous, and not corpuscular.

Maxwell's theory of the electromagnetic field is that when the magnetic field changes not only in surrounding bodies, but also in vacuum, it leads to the appearance electric field, which contributes to the appearance of a magnetic field. This is how a new reality arose in physics - the electromagnetic field . In physics, Maxwell's theory of the electromagnetic field marked the beginning of a completely new stage. In accordance with this theory, the world is a single electrodynamic system, which includes electrically charged particles interacting through an electromagnetic field.

Carrying out an analysis of the state of physics during the period of the emergence of the very first hypotheses about the structure of the atom, one can see that the setting of such a goal was closely related to the development of the electromagnetic picture of the world. According to the postulates of the electromagnetic picture of the world, all processes of nature and the world can be considered as the interaction of matter and ether. It was assumed that all the forces of nature could be unified, reducing absolutely different types forces to changes in the state of the ether itself (“One ether for light, heat and electricity,” - in late XIX centuries wrote Kelvin). We can assume that Newton’s law of universal gravitation was reduced to the transfer of forces over time with a finite speed in the ether. The interaction of atoms of matter and ether was considered as a method (source) of the emergence of charges.

First of all, according to the program of Maxwell and his followers (for example, Hertz, Lenard), it can be assumed that charges are represented as certain processes of disturbance of the ether (based on the key idea of Maxwell’s theory of the electromagnetic field about the identity of the conduction current and the displacement current, which made it possible to imagine charge-current densities in the form of an electromagnetic field flow). Only now, under the influence of the ideas of atomism in physics, hypotheses have been expressed many times about the possibility of transferring the principle of atomism to charges. Such ideas found theoretical and empirical confirmation after the first discovery of electrons and the development of Lorentz electrodynamics, which was based on the idea of charges-currents as a certain system of electrons interacting with an electromagnetic field. Afterwards, a new concept of charges definitely entered the picture of the world. They were already considered as special particles - electrons (atoms of electricity), their interaction with the ether (electromagnetic field) was presented as the deep basis of all physical processes. Then, in the physical picture of the world, in addition to “ether” and “atoms of matter,” a completely new element appeared - the so-called “atoms of electricity,” and then the problem of their relationship with the atoms of “ordinary” matter arose. The great interest in questions about the structure of matter, which arose in physics at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries, was largely dictated by precisely this problem. Arguing on this topic, scientists first of all asked the question: are electrons part of the atom? Although the very formulation of this question was quite a bold step, since it led to completely new ideas in the picture of the world (one had to agree with complex structure atoms of matter). That is why the specification of the question of the relationship between electrons and atoms was associated with entering the sphere of philosophical analysis, which occurs with radical leaps in the picture of the world (to give an example, J. J. Thomson, he was one of the initiators of the formulation of the problem of the connection between atoms and electrons of matter, he looked for support in the ideas of Boscovich’s atomism in order to prove the very need for a transition in the picture of the world of “atoms of matter” to “atoms of electricity”). But one way or another we can say that the problem of the relationship between atoms and electrons and its analysis from the point of view of the complexity of the atom was considered with the help of the development of the physical picture of the world.

With the evolution of physics, as new experimental data and theoretical concepts emerge (especially after the creation of the theory of radioactive decay and its discovery), the construction different models the structure of the atom has become commonplace among physicists. However, the construction of these models itself began a little earlier, under the influence of the problem of the electron, which was introduced as a special element into the picture of physical reality.

Thus, we can conclude that the impulse for the construction of hypothetical diagrams of the structure of the atom was created by the electromagnetic picture of the world, which included completely new elements in the theoretical and empirical material of physics under the influence of previous development and with the participation of philosophical ideas.

The mechanical picture of the world was largely changed by new physical and philosophical views on matter, forces, space and time. These changes were not revolutionary, since they were carried out within the framework of classical science. By combining new ideas and old mechanistic ideas about nature, the electromagnetic picture of the world is intermediate. Only the ideas about matter changed significantly: corpuscular ideas were replaced by continual (field) ones. Matter was no longer a collection of indivisible atoms, which ceased to be the final limit of the divisibility of matter. The limit of divisibility was taken to be an absolutely continuous infinite field with wave movements in it and electric charges. According to the electromagnetic picture of the world, matter can exist only in two forms - field and substance. Transformation into each other is impossible in the electromagnetic picture of the world. The field has priority over matter, which means that the main property of matter is continuity as opposed to discreteness. Transverse electromagnetic waves are a method of propagation of an electromagnetic field that constantly captures new areas of space. Newton's laws are unable to describe the filling of space with an electromagnetic field, because mechanics does not perceive this mechanism. In mechanics, one material phenomenon cannot depend on changes in another, and together they cannot create a single entity.

Changes also affected the concept of movement. The movement could be considered not only as ordinary mechanical movement, but also as the distribution of vibrations in the field. Accordingly, Maxwell's laws of electrodynamics supplanted Newton's laws of mechanics.

The solution to such a problem of physical interaction had to satisfy the new physical picture of the world. Faraday's principle of short-range action supplanted Newton's principle of long-range action, which led to the understanding of interaction as continuous from point to point and with a finite speed.

The fields do not have precisely defined boundaries and thus overlap each other. This fact meant that Newton's concept of absolute time and absolute space did not correspond to the new field concepts of matter.

First of all, in the very understanding of time and space, the electromagnetic picture of the world came from the belief that absolute empty space is filled with the world’s ether. Physicists tried to coordinate the absolute frame of reference with the motionless ether. At the same time, to understand most material phenomena, the ether had to be given unusual properties, sometimes contradictory to each other. However, the very creation of the special theory of relativity forced physicists to abandon the idea of ether, since this theory was based on the relativity of mass, time and length, i.e. from their dependence on the reference system. When considering the electromagnetic picture of the world, matter, time and space can only exist together, and are completely dependent on each other. At the same time, time and space are properties of material bodies.

Characteristic properties of the electromagnetic picture of the world:

1. Within the electromagnetic picture of the world, a continuous (continuum) field model of reality has developed. And matter itself was considered as one continuous field with force point centers - wave movements in it and electric charges. The world was viewed as an electrodynamic system, which was built from electrically charged particles that interacted through an electromagnetic field.

2. Newton's concept is replaced by Faraday's principle. Faraday argued that every interaction is transmitted by a field from one point to another, continuously and at a finite speed.

3. The kinetic theory of gases or statistical mechanics, which appeared in the middle of the 19th century, was based on the theory of probability. Probability and randomness from this period of time found their place in physics and were indicated in the form of statistical laws. A statistical law is a law that governs the behavior of huge populations and in relation to separate object, it allows only probability-based inferences to be made about its behavior. This law reflects the dialectical relationship between chance and necessity. And he does not exclude chance, but considers it as a form of manifestation of necessity.

4. Ignoring the atomistic, discrete nature of matter led Maxwell's electrodynamics to a number of inconsistencies that do not arise in the electronic theory created by Lorentz or microscopic electrodynamics. This theory restores the rights of discrete electric charges and preserves the field as an objective reality.

The electromagnetic picture of the world can explain a fairly large circle physical phenomena, which to one degree or another are not understandable from the point of view of the previous mechanical picture of the world. However, its further development showed its limitations. One of the most important problems was that the continuum understanding of matter was not consistent with the facts based on experiments conducted that would confirm the discreteness of its properties - action, charge, radiation. The problem of the relationship between field and charge still remained unsolved; here it was not possible to explain the stability of atoms and their spectra, or black body radiation. All this led to the fact that the relative nature of the electromagnetic picture of the world and the need to replace it with a new physical picture. Therefore, it was replaced by a completely new quantum-relativistic picture of the world, which explained the discreteness of the mechanical picture of the world and the continuity of the electromagnetic picture of the world.

The main contribution to the formation of the electromagnetic picture of the world (ECM) was made by English scientists: M. Faraday and J. Maxwell.

The experimental ECM was created by an outstanding English physicist-self-taught Michael Faraday (1791–1867) in the 30s of the 19th century. To describe electromagnetic phenomena, he first introduced the concept of field. The electromagnetic field, as a special type of matter, the properties and patterns of which are studied by electrodynamics.

Experimental ECM, can be characterized by the following discoveries of Faraday:

1831 – discovery of the law of electromagnetic induction;

1834 – discovery of the laws of electrolysis;

1837 – discovery of polarization of dielectrics;

1843 – experimental proof of the law of conservation of electric charge;

1845 – discovery of diamagnetism;

1846 – putting forward the idea of the electromagnetic nature of light;

1847 - discovery of paramagnetism.

In the 60s of the XIX century. English physicist Maxwell developed Faraday's theory of the electromagnetic field and created the theory of the electromagnetic field - essentially, a theoretical electromagnetic picture of the world.

This was the first field theory. It deals only with electric and magnetic fields and is very successful in explaining many electromagnetic phenomena, some of the basic ideas underlying this theory.

According to Maxwell, if any alternating magnetic field excites a vortex electric field in space, then the opposite phenomenon should exist: any change in the electric field should cause the appearance of a vortex magnetic field in the surrounding space. To establish quantitative relationships between a changing electric field and the magnetic field it causes, Maxwell introduced into consideration the so-called displacement current, which has the ability to create a magnetic field in the surrounding space. The displacement current in a vacuum is not associated with the movement of charges, but is determined only by the change in the electric field over time and at the same time excites a magnetic field - this is Maxwell’s fundamentally new statement.

So, theoretical ECM Maxwell includes a system consisting of 20 equations:

Three equations of magnetic force;

Three equations of electric currents;

Three EMF equations;

Three equations of electrical elasticity;

Three equations of electrical resistance;

Three equations of total currents;

Equation of free electricity;

Continuity equation.

In confirming the validity of the Faraday-Maxwell field concepts decisive role played by the experiments of the German physicist G. Hertz (1857–1894), in which electromagnetic waves were obtained and studied, the existence of which was predicted by Maxwell.

From Maxwell's equations it follows that the sources of the electric field can be either electric charges or time-varying magnetic fields, and magnetic fields can be excited either by moving electric charges (electric currents) or by alternating electric fields. Maxwell's equations are the most general equations for electric and magnetic fields in media at rest. In the doctrine of electromagnetism they play the same role as Newton's laws in mechanics. From Maxwell's equations it follows that an alternating magnetic field is always associated with the electric field generated by it, and an alternating electric field is associated with the magnetic field generated by it, i.e. Electric and magnetic fields are inextricably linked with each other - they form a single electromagnetic field.

Only Einstein’s principle of relativity is applicable to the electromagnetic field, since the fact of propagation electromagnetic waves in a vacuum in all frames of reference with the same speed is not compatible with Galileo's principle of relativity.

After Maxwell created the electromagnetic field theory, in the second half of the 19th century, widespread practical use of electromagnetic phenomena began. The invention of radio by Russian physicist and electromechanic A.S. Popov (1859–1906) – one of the first important applications of the principles of the new electromagnetic theory. If the action of electromagnetic forces ceased for a moment, life would immediately disappear. The structure of the atomic shell, the cohesion of atoms into molecules (chemical bonds) and the formation of bodies of various shapes from matter are determined exclusively by electromagnetic interaction.

Principles of long-range and short-range action. For a long time it was believed that interaction between bodies can be carried out directly through empty space, which does not take part in the transfer of interaction, and the transfer of interaction occurs instantly. This assumption is the essence long-range principle . Newton himself recognized the improbability and even the impossibility of this kind of interaction between bodies.

The founder of the principle of long-range action is the French mathematician, physicist and philosopher Rene Descartes. Experimental studies of electromagnetic phenomena have shown a discrepancy between the principle of long-range action and physical experience. In addition, it contradicts the postulate of the special theory of relativity, according to which the speed of transmission of interactions between bodies is limited and should not exceed the speed of light in a vacuum.

It was proven that the interaction of electrically charged bodies is not instantaneous and the movement of one charged particle leads to a change in the forces acting on other particles, not at the same moment, but only after a finite time. Each electrically charged particle creates an electromagnetic field that acts on other charged particles, i.e. interaction is transmitted through an “intermediary” – an electromagnetic field. The speed of propagation of the electromagnetic field is equal to the speed of light in vacuum - approximately 300,000 km/s. This is the essence short range principle , which extends not only to electromagnetic, but also to other types of interactions. According to this principle, interaction between bodies is carried out through certain fields (for example, gravity through a gravitational field) continuously distributed in space.

Discreteness and continuity of matter. In philosophical terms, the division of the world into bodies and particles, on the one hand, and a continuous medium, field and empty space, on the other, corresponds to the identification of two extreme properties of the world - its discreteness and continuity.

Discreteness(or discontinuity) means “granularity”, the final divisibility of the spatio-temporal structure and state of an object or object, its properties and forms of movement (jumps), whereas continuity expresses the unity, integrity and indivisibility of the object, the very fact of its sustainable existence. For the continuous there are no boundaries of the divisible.

Only with the development of the concept of “field” did it become possible to understand dialectical unity - in modern quantum theory, this unity of the opposites of discrete and continuous found a deeper physical and mathematical justification in the concept wave-particle duality .

Basic concepts of ECM: to continuity of matter, materiality of the physical field; physical relativity of space and time; continuity of cause and effect relationships; mass is a measure of inertia, gravity and total energy of a body; invariance of the laws of physics, etc.

Basic principles of ECM: Einstein's relativity, constancy of the speed of light, equivalence of inertia and gravity; correspondence between mechanics and electrodynamics, causality, etc.

UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY

Named after K. E. Ts I O L K O V S K O G O

Department: General chemistry, physics and chemistry of composite materials

ABSTRACT

Discipline: Concept of Modern Natural Science

Subject:Physical picture of the world

Student: Kakorin Pavel Dmitrievich

Group: 6MEN-1DB-242

Supervisor: Kachalina A.L.

Moscow, 2012

Physical picture of the world

The concept of the physical picture of the world

Cognizing the world around us, a person creates in his mind a certain model of it - a picture of the world. At each stage of its development, humanity imagines the world in which it lives differently. Therefore, in the history of mankind there have been various pictures of the world: mythological, religious, scientific, etc. In addition, as already noted, each individual science can also form its own picture of the world (physical, chemical, biological, etc.). However, of all the variety of pictures of the world that exist in modern science, the broadest picture is given by the general scientific picture of the world, which describes nature, society and man.

The scientific picture of the world is formed on the basis of the achievements of the natural, social and human sciences, but its foundation, undoubtedly, is natural science. The importance of natural science in the formation of a scientific picture of the world is so great that often the scientific picture of the world is reduced to a natural science picture, the content of which is made up of pictures of the world of individual natural sciences.

The natural scientific picture of the world is a systematized and reliable knowledge about nature, historically formed in the course of the development of natural science. This picture of the world includes knowledge obtained from all natural sciences, including their fundamental ideas and theories. At the same time, the history of science shows that most of the content of natural science consists primarily of physical knowledge. It is physics that has been and remains the most developed and systematized natural science. The contribution of other natural sciences to the formation of the scientific picture of the world was much less. Therefore, when the worldview of European civilization and modern times arose and the classical natural science picture of the world took shape, it was natural to turn to physics, its concepts and arguments, which largely determined this picture. The degree of development of physics was so great that it was able to create its own physical picture of the world, unlike other natural sciences, which only in the 20th century. set themselves this task and were able to solve it.

Therefore, when starting a conversation about the most important and significant scientific concepts in modern natural science, we will start it with physics and the picture of the world created by this science.

Physics is a science that studies the simplest and at the same time the most general laws of nature, the properties and structure of matter and the laws of its motion. In any phenomenon, physics looks for what unites it with all other natural phenomena. Therefore, the concepts and laws of physics are fundamental, i.e. are fundamental to all natural science.

The word “physics” itself comes from the Greek - nature. This science arose in antiquity and initially covered the entire body of knowledge about natural phenomena. In other words, then physics was identical to all natural science. Only by the Hellenistic era, as knowledge and research methods differentiated, separate natural sciences, including physics, emerged from the general science of nature.

At its core, physics is an experimental science: its laws are based on facts established experimentally. This is how it has become since the New Age. But, in addition to experimental physics, there is also theoretical physics, the purpose of which is to formulate the laws of nature. Experimental and theoretical physics cannot exist without each other.

In accordance with the variety of physical objects under study, levels of organization and forms of motion, modern physics is divided into a number of disciplines, one way or another connected with each other. Depending on the physical objects being studied, physics is divided into physics of elementary particles, nuclear physics, physics of atoms and molecules, gases and liquids, solids and plasma. According to the criterion of levels of organization of matter, the physics of the micro-, macro- and mega-worlds is distinguished. Based on the nature of the processes, phenomena and forms of motion (interaction) being studied, mechanical, electromagnetic, quantum and gravitational phenomena, thermal and thermodynamic processes and the corresponding fields of physics are distinguished: mechanics, electrodynamics, quantum physics, theory of gravity, thermodynamics and statistical physics.

In addition, modern physics contains a small number of fundamental theories covering all branches of physical knowledge. These theories represent a collection of the most important knowledge about the nature of physical processes and phenomena, an approximate, but most complete reflection of the various forms of motion of matter in nature.

Concept “physical picture of the world* has been used in natural science for a long time, but only recently has it begun to be considered not only as the result of the development of physical knowledge, but also as a special independent type of knowledge - the most general theoretical knowledge in physics, a system of concepts, principles and hypotheses that serve as the initial basis for constructing theories. The physical picture of the world, on the one hand, generalizes all previously acquired knowledge about nature, and on the other hand, introduces into physics new philosophical ideas and the concepts, principles and hypotheses determined by them, which did not exist before and which radically change the foundations of physical theoretical knowledge . In other words, the physical picture of the world is considered as a physical model of nature, which includes fundamental physical and philosophical ideas, physical theories, the most general concepts, principles and methods of cognition corresponding to a certain historical stage in the development of physics.

The development of physics itself is directly related to the physical picture of the world, since it represents a process of formation and change of its various types. The constant development and replacement of some pictures of the world by others, more adequately reflecting the structure and properties of matter, is the process of development of the physical picture of the world itself. The basis for identifying individual types of the physical picture of the world is a qualitative change in fundamental physical ideas, which are the basis for physical theory and our ideas about the structure of matter and the forms of its existence. With a change in the physical picture of the world, a new stage in the development of physics begins with a different system of initial concepts, principles, hypotheses and style of thinking, with different epistemological premises. The transition from one stage to another marks a qualitative leap, a revolution in physics, consisting in the collapse of the old picture of the world and the emergence of a new one.

Within each individual stage, the development of physics follows an evolutionary path, without changing the foundations of the picture of the world. It consists in realizing the possibilities of constructing new theories inherent in a given picture of the world. At the same time, it can evolve, be completed, while remaining within the framework of certain specific physical ideas about the world. When the key concepts of the picture of the world change, a revolution occurs in physics. Its result is the emergence of a new physical picture of the world.

The explanation of natural phenomena from the point of view of physics is based on fundamental physical concepts and principles. The most general, fundamental concepts of the physical description of nature include matter, movement, physical interaction, space and time, cause-and-effect relationships, the place and role of man in the world.

The most important of these is the concept of matter. Therefore, revolutions in physics are always associated with changes in ideas about the structure of matter. In the history of modern physics this happened twice. In the 19th century a transition was made from the established ones to the 17th century. atomistic, corpuscular concepts of matter to field (continuum) ones. In the 20th century continuum concepts were replaced by modern quantum ones. Therefore, we can talk about three successively replacing each other physical pictures of the world.

The first physical picture of the world in the history of natural science was a mechanical picture of the world, within which electromagnetic phenomena could not be explained, and therefore it was supplemented by an electromagnetic picture of the world. However, numerous inexplicable physical phenomena discovered at the end of the 19th century showed the limitations of the electromagnetic picture of the world, which led to the emergence of a quantum field picture of the world.

Mechanical picture of the world

The formation of a mechanical picture of the world occurred under the influence of metaphysical materialistic ideas about matter and the forms of its existence. It was based on the ideas and laws of mechanics, which in the 17th century. was the most developed branch of physics. In fact, it was mechanics that came first fundamental physical theory. The ideas, principles and theories of mechanics represented the body of the most essential knowledge about physical laws and most fully reflected the physical processes in nature. In a broad sense, mechanics studies the mechanical movement of material bodies and the interaction that occurs between them. Mechanical motion is understood as a change in the relative position of bodies or particles in space over time. Examples of mechanical motion in nature are the movement of celestial bodies, vibrations of the earth's crust, air and sea currents, etc. The interactions that occur in the process of mechanical movement represent those actions of bodies on each other, as a result of which a change in the speed of movement of these bodies in space or their deformation occurs.

The most important concepts of mechanics as a fundamental physical theory are the material point - a body, the shapes and dimensions of which are not significant in this problem; absolutely rigid body - a body the distance between any points of which remains unchanged, and its deformation can be neglected. Both types of material bodies are characterized using the following concepts: mass - a measure of the amount of substance; weight is the force with which the body acts on the support. Mass always remains constant, but weight can change. These concepts are expressed through the following physical quantities: coordinates, impulses, energy, force.

The basis of the mechanical picture of the world was atomism - a theory that considered the whole world, including humans, as a collection of a huge number of indivisible material particles - atoms. They moved through space and time in accordance with a few laws of mechanics. Matter is a substance consisting of tiny, indivisible, absolutely solid moving particles (atoms). This is the corpuscular idea of matter.

The laws of mechanics, which regulated both the movement of atoms and the movement of any material bodies, were considered the fundamental laws of the universe. Therefore, the key concept of the mechanical picture of the world was the concept of movement, which was understood as mechanical movement. Bodies have an internal innate property to move uniformly and rectilinearly, and deviations from this movement are associated with the action of an external force (inertia) on the body. The only form of movement is mechanical movement, i.e. change in body position in space over time. Any movement can be represented as a sum of spatial movements. The movement was explained on the basis of Newton's three laws. All states of mechanical motion of bodies in relation to time turn out to be basically the same, since time is considered reversible. The laws of higher forms of motion of matter must be reduced to the laws of its simplest form - mechanical motion.

The mechanical picture of the world reduced all the variety of interactions only to gravitational ones, which meant the presence of attractive forces between any bodies; the magnitude of these forces was determined by the law of universal gravitation. Therefore, knowing the mass of one body and the force of gravity, you can determine the mass of another body. Gravitational forces are universal, i.e. they act always and between any bodies and impart the same acceleration to any bodies.

Solving the problem of the interaction of bodies, Newton proposed the principle of long-range action. According to this principle, interaction between bodies occurs instantly at any distance, without material intermediaries, i.e. the intermediate medium does not take part in the transmission of interaction.

The concept of long-range action is closely related to the understanding of space and time as special environments containing interacting bodies. Newton proposed the concept of absolute space and absolute time. Absolute space was imagined as a large “black box”, a universal container of all material bodies in nature. But even if all these bodies suddenly disappeared, absolute space would still remain. Similarly, in the image of a flowing river, absolute time was represented. It became the universal duration of all processes in the Universe. Both absolute space and absolute time exist completely independently of matter. Thus, space, time and matter represent three entities independent of each other.

Thus, in accordance with the mechanical picture of the world, the Universe was a well-oiled mechanism operating according to the laws of strict necessity, in which all objects and phenomena are interconnected by strict cause-and-effect relationships. In such a world there are no accidents; she was completely excluded from the picture of the world. The only thing that was random was the reason for which we did not yet know. But since the world is rational, and man is endowed with reason, then in the end he can obtain complete and exhaustive knowledge about existence. Such rigid determinism found its expression in the form of dynamic laws.

Life and mind in the mechanical picture of the world did not have any qualitative specificity. Man in this picture of the world was considered as a natural body among other bodies, and therefore remained inexplicable in his “immaterial” qualities. Therefore, the presence of a person in the world did not change anything. If a person one day disappeared from the face of the earth, the world would continue to exist as if nothing had happened. In fact, classical natural science did not seek to understand man. It was assumed that the natural world, in which there is nothing human, can be described objectively, and such a description will be an exact copy of reality. Considering a person as one of the cogs of a well-oiled machine automatically eliminated him from this picture of the world.

Based on the mechanical picture of the world in the 18th - early 19th centuries. terrestrial, celestial and molecular mechanics were developed. Technology was developing at a rapid pace. This led to the absolutization of the mechanical picture of the world, and it began to be considered universal.

The development of the mechanical picture of the world was mainly due to the development of mechanics. The success of Newtonian mechanics greatly contributed to the absolutization of Newtonian concepts, which was expressed in attempts to reduce the entire diversity of natural phenomena to the mechanical form of the movement of matter. This point of view is called mechanistic materialism (mechanism). However, the development of physics showed the inconsistency of such a methodology, since it turned out to be impossible to describe thermal, electrical and magnetic phenomena using the laws of mechanics, as well as the movement of atoms and molecules of these physical phenomena. As a result, in the 19th century. a crisis occurred in physics, which indicated that physics needed a significant change in its views on the world.

When assessing the mechanical picture of the world as one of the stages in the development of the physical picture of the world, it is necessary to keep in mind that with the development of science, the main provisions of the mechanical picture of the world were not simply discarded. The development of science has only revealed the relative nature of the mechanical picture of the world. It was not the mechanical picture of the world itself that turned out to be untenable, but its original philosophical idea - mechanism. In the depths of the mechanical picture of the world, elements of a new - electromagnetic - picture of the world began to take shape.

Electromagnetic picture of the world

Throughout the 19th century. Attempts continued to explain electromagnetic phenomena within the framework of a mechanical picture of the world. But this turned out to be impossible: electromagnetic phenomena were too different from mechanical processes. The greatest contribution to the formation of the electromagnetic picture of the world was made by the works of M. Faraday and J. Maxwell. After Maxwell created the theory of the electromagnetic field, it became possible to talk about the emergence electromagnetic picture of the world.

Maxwell developed his theory based on the phenomenon of electromagnetic induction discovered by Faraday. Conducting experiments with a magnetic needle, trying to explain the nature of electrical and magnetic phenomena, Faraday came to the conclusion that the rotation of the magnetic needle is not caused by the electric charges that are in the conductor, but by the special state of the environment that arose at the location of the magnetic needle. This meant that the environment surrounding the conductor plays an active role in the interaction of the current with the magnetic needle. In this regard, he introduced the concept of a field as a set of magnetic lines of force that permeate space and are capable of determining and directing (inducing) electric current. This discovery led Faraday to the idea of the need to replace corpuscular ideas about matter with new continual, continuous ones.

Maxwell's theory of the electromagnetic field boils down to the fact that a changing magnetic field creates not only in surrounding bodies, but also in a vacuum a vortex electric field, which, in turn, causes the appearance of a magnetic field. This is how a new reality was introduced into physics - electromagnetic field.

charge, field strength -

electromagnetic

Only the ideas about matter changed radically: corpuscular ideas gave way to continual (field) ones. From now on, the totality of indivisible atoms ceased to be finite; a new reality was introduced - electromagnetic field. Maxwell's theory of the electromagnetic field marked the beginning of a new stage in physics. In accordance with this theory, the world began to appear as a single electrodynamic system, built from electrically charged particles interacting through an electromagnetic field.

The most important concepts of the new theory are: charge, which can be either positive or negative; field strength - the force that would act on a body carrying a unit charge if it were located at the point in question.

When electric charges move relative to each other, an additional magnetic force is created. Therefore, the total force combining electric and magnetic forces is called electromagnetic It is believed that electric forces (field) correspond to charges at rest, magnetic forces (field) to moving charges. The whole variety of these forces and charges is described by a system of equations of classical electrodynamics, known as Maxwell's equations.

The essence of the equations of classical electrodynamics comes down to Coulomb's law, which is completely equivalent to Newton's law of universal gravitation, as well as to statements about

that magnetic lines of force are continuous and have neither beginning nor end; magnetic charges do not exist; the electric field is created by an alternating magnetic field; A magnetic field can be created either by an electric current or by an alternating electric field.

Maxwell's equations are written in terms of field theory, which makes it possible to uniformly describe stationary and nonstationary electromagnetic phenomena and relate spatial and temporal changes in electric and magnetic fields. These equations have solutions that describe electromagnetic waves propagating at the speed of light. From them it is possible to obtain solutions for the set of all waves that can propagate in any direction in space.

Thus, new physical and philosophical views on matter, space, time and forces were put forward, which largely changed the previous mechanical picture of the world. Of course, one cannot say that these changes were radical, since they were carried out within the framework of classical science. Therefore, the new electromagnetic picture of the world can be considered intermediate, combining both new ideas and old mechanistic ideas about the world.

Only the ideas about matter changed radically: corpuscular ideas gave way to continual (field) ones. From now on, the totality of indivisible atoms ceased to be finite

the limit of divisibility of matter. As such, a single absolutely continuous infinite field with force point centers was accepted - electric charges and wave movements in it. According to the electromagnetic picture of the world, matter exists in two forms - substance and field. They are strictly separated, and their transformation into each other is impossible. The main one is the field, which means that the main property of matter is continuity as opposed to discreteness. The electromagnetic field propagates in the form of transverse electromagnetic waves at the speed of light, constantly capturing new areas of space. The filling of space with an electromagnetic field cannot be described on the basis of Newton's laws, since mechanics does not understand this mechanism. In electromagnetism, a change in one entity (magnetic field) leads to the appearance of another entity (electric field). Both of these entities together form an electromagnetic field. In mechanics, one material phenomenon does not depend on the change of another, and together they do not create a single entity.

A new picture of the world required a new solution to the problem of physical interaction. Newton's principle of long-range action was replaced by Faraday's principle of short-range action, which stated that any interactions are transmitted by the field from point to point continuously and with a finite speed.

Newton's concept of absolute space and absolute time did not fit the new field concepts of matter, since the fields do not have clearly defined boundaries and overlap each other. In addition, fields are absolutely continuous matter, so there is simply no empty space. Likewise, time must be inextricably linked with the processes occurring in the field. It was clear that space and time cannot be considered as independent entities independent of matter. But the inertia of thinking and the force of habit were so great that for a long time scientists preferred to believe in the existence of absolute space and absolute time.

Initially, in understanding space and time, the electromagnetic picture of the world was based on the belief that absolute empty space is filled with the world’s ether. Scientists tried to connect an absolute frame of reference with the motionless ether. At the same time, to explain many material phenomena, it was necessary to attribute unusual properties to the ether, often contradicting each other. However, the creation of the special theory of relativity forced scientists to abandon the idea of ether, since this theory was based on the relativity of length, time and mass, i.e. from their dependence on the frame of reference. Therefore, only by the beginning of the 20th century. The absolute concept of space and time gave way to the relational concept of space and time, according to which space, time and matter exist only together, completely dependent on each other. In this case, space and time are properties of material bodies.

The laws of electrodynamics, like the laws of classical mechanics, still unambiguously predetermined the events they described, so they tried to exclude randomness from the physical picture of the world. However, in the middle of the 19th century. For the first time, a fundamental physical theory of a new type appeared, which was based on the theory of probability. It was the kinetic theory of gases, or statistical mechanics. Randomness and probability finally found their place in physics and were reflected in the form of so-called statistical laws. True, so far physicists have not given up hope of finding clear, unambiguous laws similar to Newton’s laws behind the probabilistic characteristics, and considered the newly created theory to be an intermediate option, a temporary measure. Nevertheless, progress was evident: the concept of probability entered the electromagnetic picture of the world.

The idea of the place and role of man in the Universe did not change in the electromagnetic picture of the world. His appearance was considered only a whim of nature. These views were further strengthened after the advent of Darwin's theory of evolution. Ideas about the qualitative specificity of life and mind made their way into the scientific worldview with great difficulty.

The electromagnetic picture of the world explained a large range of physical phenomena that were incomprehensible from the point of view of the previous mechanical picture of the world. However, its further development showed that it is limited. The main problem was that the continuum understanding of matter was not consistent with experimental facts confirming the discreteness of its many properties - charge, radiation, action. The problem of the relationship between field and charge also remained unresolved; it was not possible to explain the stability of atoms and their spectra, or the radiation of a completely black body. All this testified to the relative nature of the electromagnetic picture of the world and the need to replace it with a new physical picture of the world. Therefore, it was replaced by a new - quantum-field - picture of the world, combining the discreteness of the mechanical picture of the world and the continuity of the electromagnetic picture of the world.