The Argument over TEM Waves

Home	www.play-hookey.com	Thu, 03-11-2010
Digital \| Logic Families \| Digital Experiments \| Analog \| Analog Experiments \| DC Theory \| AC Theory \| Optics \| Computers \| Semiconductors \| Test HTML

Direct Links to Other Optics Pages:
Basic Concepts:	[What Is Light?] [Light as a Wave] [Light as a Particle] [The Characteristics of a Photon] [The Photoelectric Effect] [The Transverse Electromagnetic Wave (TEM)]
Reflection and Refraction:	[Introduction] [Reflection, Part 1] [Reflection, Part 2] [Refraction, Part 1] [Refraction, Part 2]
Lenses:	[Introduction] [The Convex Lens]
Fiber Optics:	[Introduction] [Fiber Optics, Part 2] [Fiber Optics, Part 3] [Fiber Optics, Part 4] [Fiber Optics, Part 5] [Fiber Optics, Part 6]

The Argument over TEM Waves

The TEM argument has gotten old, and nobody has yet explained why the equations at the bottom of my page on the transverse electromagnetic wave cannot be correct. The "Maxwell said it a hundred years ago, so it must be right" claim won't wash; history contains a long list of experts who have been proven wrong.

I have received e-mail arguments that claim all sorts of things that have been proven wrong by experiment. The latest was that the energy of a photon must be at least E = hf, but can be more than that value. This is of course refuted by experiment demonstrating the photoelectric effect.

In any case, I have decided not to lend this site to perpetuating what seems to be nothing more than an attempt to shout me down. I'll still entertain meaningful arguments privately, but it'll take a convincing and logical explanation to cause me to abandon my position.