Reconstruction of Macroscopic Maxwell Equations: A Single Susceptibility Theory, Edition 2

Kikuo Cho

Dec 2018 · Springer Tracts in Modern Physics Book 237 · Springer

About this ebook

Throughout my whole career including student time I have had a feeling that leaning and teaching electromagnetism, especially macroscopic Maxwell equations (M-eqs) is dif?cult. In order to make a good use of these equations, it seemed necessary to be able to use certain empirical knowledges and model-dependent concepts, rather than pure logics. Many of my friends, colleagues and the physicists I have met on various occasions have expressed similar impressions. This is not the case with microscopic M-eqs and quantum mechanics, which do not make us feel reluctant to teach, probably because of the clear logical structure. What makes us hesitate to teach is probably because we have to explain what we ourselves do not completely understand. Logic is an essential element in physics, as well as in mathematics, so that it does not matter for physicists to experience dif?culties at the initial phase, as far as the logical structure is clear. As the we- known principles of physics say, “a good theory should be logically consistent and explain relevant experiments”. Our feeling about macroscopic M-eqs may be related with some incompleteness of their logical structure.

About the author

Brief Biography of Kikuo Cho
Prof. Dr. Kikuo Cho was born in 1940 in Japan. He got his PhD in 1970 from Tokyo University for the theoretical study of optical line shapes of alkali-halide phosphors. He was research assistant at the Institute for Solid State Physics of Tokyo University from 1966 to 1971, studying the optical properties of impurity centers and excitons in non-metallic crystals. Then he spent 5 years and a half in Europe, as visiting Professor at Stuttgart University for 1971-72, as reseach associate at the University of Strasbourg for 1972-73, and as visiting researcher at Institut fuer Festkoerperforschung in Stuttgart for 1973-76. During this period, he had strongly collaborated with experimental groups, which resulted in the book “Excitons” (Springer Verlag, Topics in Current Physics 14). In 1977 he became associate Professor of solid state theory at Osaka University and full professor in 1991. In the latter half of this period his main activity is on the construction of microscopic nonlocal response theory (“Optical Response of Nanostructures”, Springer Verlag, series Solid State Science). After retirement in 2004, he became Professor Emeritus of Osaka University. In the years 2006 – 2010 he was Fellow of Toyota Physical and Chemical Research Institute, and devoted himself to the logically complete reformulation of macroscopic Maxwell equations based on his own microscopic nonlocal response theory. It resulted in the book, “Reconstruction of macroscopic Maxwell equations” (Springer Tracts in Modern Physics, 2010). Since 2015 July he is a member of the council of Toyota Physical and Chemical Research Institute.