The reason it is so important in physics is that more or less everything in the universe can be described in terms of vector fields-electromagnetic fields, gravitational fields, fluid flow, and so on. Vector calculus is the branch of mathematics that deals with the differentiation and integration of vector fields. “We anticipate that graphical vector calculus will lower the barriers in learning and practicing vector calculus, as Feynman diagrams did in quantum field theory,” they say.įirst some background. And that raises the interesting question of whether graphics-based innovations could simplify these calculations and perhaps kick-start a new era of innovation, just as Feynman did.Įnter Joon-Hwi Kim at Seoul National University in South Korea and a couple of colleagues who have come up with a similar innovation for vector calculus-a graphics-based shorthand for one of the most common and powerful mathematical tools in science. Of course, many other areas of physics rely on complex mathematics. Indeed, the American physicist Frank Wilcjek, who worked with Feynman in the 1980s, once wrote: “The calculations that eventually got me a Nobel Prize in 2004 would have been literally unthinkable without Feynman diagrams.“
#FIELD MATH ILLUSTRATIONS SERIES#
Mathematically, each interaction is an infinite series, so even simple interactions between particles are fantastically complex to write down in this way.įeynman’s genius was to represent these series with simple lines in a graphical format, allowing scientists to think about particle physics in new and exciting ways.įeynman and others immediately began to extend their ideas using this graphical shorthand. They are pictorial representations of the mathematics that describe the interaction between subatomic particles.
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However, it is remembered today for a much more powerful invention-the Feynman diagram, which appeared there in print for the first time.įeynman diagrams have had a huge impact in physics. The paper described a new way to solve problems in electrodynamics using matrices.
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Back in 1948, the journal Physical Review published a paper entitled “Space-Time Approach to Quantum Electrodynamics” by a young physicist named R.P.