Cecil Moore wrote:
Tom Ring wrote:
Roy Lewallen wrote:
rules which constantly change to suit the needs of the moment.
Watterson fans will recognize the rules for propagating power waves
as closely resembling those of Calvinball.

Hopefully some of those here will get that. I would be surprised if
it's more than one in four.

The rules for propagating waves of EM energy have been
nailed down for generations. Optical physicists don't
have the luxury of measuring voltage and current. They
must necessarily measure average power density. They
are quite good at it and their average power density
equations are quite accurate and mature. They obviously
know a lot more about EM waves than most of the posters
here.

Cecil,

I guess you did not believe me when I said a day or two ago that optical
physicists have advanced well beyond the limited capabilities you allow
them. It is true that they don't measure "voltage and current". I don't
even know what voltage and current mean in the standard context of
optics. However, they do measure fields in many ways, and they do use
extensive calculations based on fields.

The measurement tools used at optical frequencies are a bit different
than the measurement tools used for RF, but they are no less capable.

Do you have any connection with "optical physicists" beyond your reading
of Hecht and the Melles Griot website?

73,
Gene
W4SZ