A classical field theory is a physical theory that describes the study of how one or more physical fields interact with matter. The word 'classical' is used in contrast to those field theories that incorporate quantum mechanics (quantum field theories).
A physical field can be thought of as the assignment of a physical quantity at each point of space and time. For example, in a weather forecast, the wind velocity during a day over a country is described by assigning a vector to each point in space. Each vector represents the direction of the movement of air at that point. As the day progresses, the directions in which the vectors point change as the directions of the wind change. From the mathematical viewpoint, classical fields are described by sections of fiber bundles (covariant classical field theory). The term 'classical field theory' is commonly reserved for describing those physical theories that describe electromagnetism and gravitation, two of the fundamental forces of nature.
Descriptions of physical fields were given before the advent of relativity theory and then revised in light of this theory. Consequently, classical field theories are usually categorised as non-relativistic and relativistic.
Read more about Classical Field Theory: Non-relativistic Field Theories, Relativistic Field Theory
Famous quotes containing the words classical, field and/or theory:
“The basic difference between classical music and jazz is that in the former the music is always greater than its performance—Beethoven’s Violin Concerto, for instance, is always greater than its performance—whereas the way jazz is performed is always more important than what is being performed.”
—André Previn (b. 1929)
“The snow had begun in the gloaming,
And busily all the night
Had been heaping field and highway
With a silence deep and white.”
—James Russell Lowell (1819–1891)
“Frankly, these days, without a theory to go with it, I can’t see a painting.”
—Tom Wolfe (b. 1931)