In a physical theory, a field equation describes how the fundamental forces interact with matter. The four fundamental forces are gravitation, electromagnetism, strong interaction and weak interaction.
Before the theory of quantum mechanics was fully developed, there were two known field theories, namely gravitation and electromagnetism (these two are sometimes referred to as classical field theories, as they were formulated before the advent of quantum mechanics, and hence do not take into account quantum phenomena).
Modern field equations tend to be tensor equations.
Read more about Field Equation: Relativistic Fields, Unification Attempts
Famous quotes containing the words field and/or equation:
“It is through attentive love, the ability to ask “What are you going through?” and the ability to hear the answer that the reality of the child is both created and respected.”
—Mary Field Belenky (20th century)
“A nation fights well in proportion to the amount of men and materials it has. And the other equation is that the individual soldier in that army is a more effective soldier the poorer his standard of living has been in the past.”
—Norman Mailer (b. 1923)