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As an electrical/computer engineer, I already have a relatively thorough understanding of classical electromagnetism.

From what I understand though, classical EM is only an approximation to quantum electrodynamics. I'm very curious about how it all really works though.

So as an ECE engineer, what would be the best way to approach quantum electrodynamics? (assuming taking a course at a community college is not an option)

Qmechanic
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dfg
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    Well, I would suggest learning elementary quantum mechanics first. Before you do that, you should make sure you have the background in linear algebra, vector calculus, complex numbers, and probability & statistics, differential equations, and Fourier analysis. You may have most of this already from your ECE education. There is a free book and video course by James Binney of Oxford, which can serve as a starting point for learning QM. http://www-thphys.physics.ox.ac.uk/people/JamesBinney/lectures.html – WhatIAm Apr 18 '14 at 21:18
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    Topics you would absolutely need to understand before you get to QED (in the order that you should learn them) : linear algebra, vector calculus, elementary classical mechanics, quantum mechanics, elementary classical field theory, quantum field theory, quantum electrodynamics. Of course, this will only give you a basis understanding in QED. To really understand it, you will need to understand some of the earlier topics in greater detail and possibly some other mathematical areas. – Prahar Apr 18 '14 at 21:26

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What is an ECE engineer, an electronic-computer-engineering engineer?

Indeed Classical Electrodynamics is only an approximation to Quantum Electrodynamics.

If you just want to get a taste, I would suggest reading Feynman's QED: The Strange Theory of Light and Matter. It describes the theory quite nicely without too much maths.

If you want to learn full Quantum ElectroDynamics, you're going to first need to learn tree-level (introductory) Quantum Field Theory, which will require quite a lot of time, effort and maths. If this is indeed what you want, then check out the books list question for some ideas of where to start. I don't know exactly how much education you have so far in terms of maths.

It's not easy, but it is a pretty great theory alright!

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Flint72
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In order to gauge your level of previous knowledge, you could try Engineering quantum electrodynamics, by Dietrich Marcuse ( https://books.google.com.br/books?id=SGd5AAAAIAAJ&dq=editions:STANFORD36105030208412&hl=pt-BR&redir_esc=yEngineering quantum electrodynamics )

user137353
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  • From our Resource Recommendation policy, answers should be ...substantive, and give as much information about the book as possible. Try to explain the style of the author, as well as listing the topics it covers well and the topics which it isn't so thorough with. Could you edit these details in, otherwise your answer is likely to be deleted. – Kyle Kanos Nov 26 '16 at 18:42