What is a Field?

What exactly is a field? Is it a real, physical thing, or just a model for explaining how particles behave in space?

Are all fields the same? I read somewhere that the Higgs field actually has mass(or it is theoretically possible)

My idea is that the "stuff" of matter is simply fields,and particles are just different energy levels/aspects of fields. That space is just different kinds of fields.

From a maths background, a field is a set of numbers. All fields are different, it really depends on how the set of numbers is defined and what context it is used in. For example, your height is one field that the doctor takes when doing a check up. Your house number is another field that is part of your address.

For the Higgs field, it is the source of mass that this set of numbers is trying to find.

a reply to: kwakakev

What about a magnetic field? You can feel it. And it has a definite shape.

answer - a field is where cows live and farmers grow corn...

If its a magnetic field, they cant grow any product that has a high Iron content, or its hard to get out of the ground because it sticks.

However electromagnétic fields have always fascinanted me, especially the anti gravity part.

We can also have a field of corn, you can touch it, feel it and measure it many different ways.

The basic idea of a field it that it is a set of something. A set of magnetic interaction, a set of bushels or a set of mass interactions. Science is still a bit hazy on some issues with where mass comes from being one. What proving the Higgs field will allow is better understanding and predictions of how mass interacts with the rest of physical reality as we know it.

originally posted by: kcgads
Are all fields the same? I read somewhere that the Higgs field actually has mass(or it is theoretically possible)

Different fields are different. Most of your mass is not from the Higgs, but a tiny bit is:

Your Mass is NOT From the Higgs Boson

My idea is that the "stuff" of matter is simply fields,and particles are just different energy levels/aspects of fields. That space is just different kinds of fields.

Is it your idea? Or someone else's idea that you read somewhere?

scienceline.ucsb.edu...

Our best current understanding of matter, at the most fundamental level, is of matter as excitations of a field. What does this mean? Well, for an introductory example, think about, say, air: if we take a blob of air, at every point in it we can talk about the pressure of the air at that point. That means that we can define something called the pressure field of the air blob - the pressure field is the pressure of every point in the blob, at every moment in time. Now, if someone disturbs the air on one side of the blob, a wave of pressure is created, and this pressure wave travels from one side of the blob to the other (this is what sound is). The pressure wave is what we call an "excitation" of the pressure field.

This idea is what we mean when we say that "matter consists of excitations of a field." The universe contains certain fields (like the pressure field, but not "made up" of anything else like air), and when those fields are excited (that is, when we put some energy into those fields), we get excitations that travel through the field; those excitations are what we call particles.

When you have a physical quantity that is not constant trough time, a field is the value of that quantity in each position of the space- time, basically a field is a map of values on how a varianble changes.

originally posted by: kcgads
What exactly is a field? Is it a real, physical thing, or just a model for explaining how particles behave in space?

It's a mathematical construct for analysis of remote effects.

originally posted by: andy1972
However electromagnétic fields have always fascinanted me, especially the anti gravity part.

There is no 'anti-gravity' part.

a reply to: kcgads

A field is a mathematical technique that can be used to describe a wide variety of "things" and "behaviors." A magnetic field describes how electrons tend to behave in a region of space. I realize this is not a very satisfying description, but it avoids unnecessary reification

I would say that a field is "the area of influence of X".

Now, I went to science dictionary and found this:

Predetermined section of a record,

thesciencedictionary.org...

which is way too specific to computing but does fit within the scope of my definition.

Let's see what else I can find - good word....

From Oxford on line: Aha - the 4th definition:

Physics The region in which a particular condition prevails, especially one in which a force or influence is effective regardless of the presence or absence of a material medium.

www.oxforddictionaries.com...

It helps to look thing up.

a reply to: FyreByrd

I do look things up. And I get different answers. Some say a field is a physical thing, some say it's not. Even the scientists can't seem to agree.

originally posted by: kcgads
a reply to: FyreByrd

I do look things up. And I get different answers. Some say a field is a physical thing, some say it's not. Even the scientists can't seem to agree.

I like the map analogy.

Let's say you have a map of a mountain, and it shows the topographic lines with elevations. The map is a representation of the mountain, but it's not the mountain. However there IS a real mountain!

The fields we construct are like maps. They describe the physical existence of something real, the same way the map describes a real mountain. But just as the map is not the real mountain, our descriptions of fields isn't the actual physical thing the fields represent.

I don't think you'll find many scientists who will disagree with that analogy.

originally posted by: AdmireTheDistance

originally posted by: andy1972
However electromagnétic fields have always fascinanted me, especially the anti gravity part.

There is no 'anti-gravity' part.

If you apply a strong enough electromagnetic to anything, you can make it cancel out the force of gravity. The best example is the "levitating frog" example. There's the theory that if you had a fast enough alternating electromagnetic field, you could create a "cushion" around your vheicle and then push against from reversing the polarity of that field.

originally posted by: stormcell

originally posted by: AdmireTheDistance

originally posted by: andy1972
However electromagnétic fields have always fascinanted me, especially the anti gravity part.

There is no 'anti-gravity' part.

If you apply a strong enough electromagnetic to anything, you can make it cancel out the force of gravity. The best example is the "levitating frog" example. There's the theory that if you had a fast enough alternating electromagnetic field, you could create a "cushion" around your vheicle and then push against from reversing the polarity of that field.

The word "field" is used applied to two completely different "things" here. An electromagnetic field cannot cancel out a gravitational field. Magnetic levitation does not "cancel" the Earth's gravitational field; the repulsive force between two magnetic poles can be greater than the force of gravity, allowing one magnetic body to "float"above the other, but the gravitational field itself is not affected.

a reply to: DJW001

physicists use it all the time to explain "things and behaviors" yet they don't know what it is, where did you avoid reification?

I believe if you want an explanation of what a field is, you have to dig into the ether-theories or maybe go all the way back the ancient greeks.
Anyone who can explain what a field is should win a Nobel prize imo.

originally posted by: kcgads
a reply to: FyreByrd

I do look things up. And I get different answers. Some say a field is a physical thing, some say it's not. Even the scientists can't seem to agree.

my dear - many words have different definitions. If you will note, I referenced the definition (#4) that was applicable to the question asked.

What exactly is a field? Is it a real, physical thing, or just a model for explaining how particles behave in space?

It is a mathematical model describing how much force there are in different areas in space but the force is certainly there.

I like Arbitrageur's explanation. It's a map but the force is there.

Take this two examples:


This here is a gravitational field (i.e. a map). Notice how weaker the force gets as it gets further away from Earth.


This here is a magnetic field. Obviously they are different. A different map. Notice the force is weaker the further it is?

The force is there.

May the force be with you. LOL couldn't resist.

In database terminology, a field is a single data element within a row of data, in a table, in a schema, in a database.

originally posted by: kcgads
What exactly is a field?

Subjective analysis of particle field-

To 1 a particle field is the less dense parts of a particle
It the field would carry data within it that would allow particles of different variety the opportunity to understand each others different functions and responsibilities.
So as one particle encounters or comes close to another their less dense part surrounding the more dense part of the central core of the particle transmits information to the nearing particle.
So for example with the LHC collision experiments the gold particle bundles carrying various combined "fields" before making contact with the collision between the more dense parts of the particles between the 2 or more particle bundles are transferring data between the particle bundle fields before the collision. This helps the colliding particle bundles interact as the miniature explosions occur.

1 is not sure but the fields may gain more size and possibly more mass with the more activity - speed - energizing conditions added with them. So if you can understand the field data language it may affect future collider experiments...

NAMASTE*******