Jose Borges de Almeida
Jose Borges de Almeida | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Residence | Braga, Portugal |
| Nationality | Portuguese |
| Known for | Optics, 4-dimensional optics, Allais Effect, corneal tomography |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Optics, Physics |
| Institutions | University of Minho |
José Borges de Almeida (also published as José B. Almeida) is a Portuguese physicist based at the University of Minho in Braga, Portugal. Trained originally as an electrical engineer, he later moved into physics teaching and research, working in the Department of Physics (Departamento de Física) of the University of Minho. His interests evolved from applied physics and optics toward the foundations of physics, and he is known for a geometric, four-dimensional approach to relativity and dynamics as well as for instrumentation work in corneal measurement.
Biography
Almeida describes his own background as that of an electrical engineer who became a physics lecturer relatively early in his career. He is based in Braga, Portugal, where he has worked at the University of Minho. Outside his professional work, his stated interests include antique machinery, particularly vintage cars, and speculation about the origin and development of intelligence.
Scientific contributions
Almeida's research spans applied optics and the foundations of physics. His work in these areas is developed largely outside the mainstream of theoretical physics, and much of it has been presented at meetings on the Physical Interpretations of Relativity Theory (PIRT) and circulated as preprints.
In applied optics, he worked on the use of matrix methods in geometrical optics and on corneal metrology. He developed an optical corneal tomographer using two Scheimpflug cameras together with a rotary illumination system, allowing three-dimensional mapping of the topography of both corneal surfaces and of corneal thickness across the whole cornea.
In the foundations of physics, Almeida proposed a framework he termed "4-dimensional optics" (4DO), presented as an alternative formulation of relativity. In this approach the usual three spatial coordinates are complemented by proper time to define a four-dimensional movement space, and dynamics is treated in a manner analogous to Fermat's principle applied in four dimensions. He argued that this Euclidean formulation can be related to the Minkowski description of general relativity for static metrics, and that the metric signature is left undefined until one coordinate is expressed in terms of the others.
He further employed Clifford (geometric) algebra, notably the algebras G(4,1) and related structures, to describe particle dynamics, electromagnetism and aspects of quantum mechanics. In related work he analyzed monogenic functions in a five-dimensional spacetime as a proposed first principle from which relativistic dynamics, electromagnetism and quantum mechanics might be derived. He also studied the Allais Effect.
Abstracts
- 2009 - "Can Physics Be Derived From Monogenic Functions?"
- 2008 - "Different Algebras for One Reality" (Read in full)
Books
- 2006 - "1st Crisis In Cosmology Conference (CCC-I): Challenging Observations and the Quest for a New Picture of the Universe" (Read in full)