Turbulence, electromagnetism and quantum mechanics: A common perspective
Haralambos Marmanis
Abstract
The nature of the electromagnetic field is studied in view of an analogy between the equations of electromagnetism and the equations of turbulent hydrodynamics. The vector potential is identified as the velocity of an ideal turbulent fluid flow, and the electric field emerges as a non-linear combination of the vector potential. The analogy is exploited and expanded to the case of a “viscous” medium, which results in a modified system of Maxwell’s equations. In the new system the fields still obey a second order in time wave equation, however the dispersion relation for the new system differs from the classic form at very high wavenumbers. The derivation of a wave equation that is first order in time leads us to the equations of Schrodinger and Dirac, and immediately suggests a new causal interpretation of quantum mechanics.