Against fields
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Abstract: Using the example of classical electrodynamics, I argue that the concept of fields as mediators of particle interactions is fundamentally flawed and reflects a misguided attempt to retrieve Newtonian concepts in relativistic theories. This leads to various physical and metaphysical problems that are discussed in detail. In particular, I emphasize that physics has not found a satisfying solution to the self-interaction problem in the context of the classical field theory. To demonstrate the superiority of a pure particle ontology, I defend the direct interaction theory of Wheeler and Feynman against recent criticism and argue that it provides the most cogent formulation of classical electrodynamics.
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- scientific article; zbMATH DE number 2155224
Cites work
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- scientific article; zbMATH DE number 3213336 (Why is no real title available?)
- Long—time asymptotics for the coupled maxwell—lorentz equations
- On conceptual issues in classical electrodynamics: prospects and problems of an action-at-a-distance interpretation
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Cited in
(15)- From fields to fields
- Which worldlines represent possible particle histories?
- The disappearance and reappearance of potential energy in classical and quantum electrodynamics
- The point of primitive ontology
- Selective realism and the framework/interaction distinction: a taxonomy of fundamental physical theories
- Maxwell-Lorentz without self-interactions: conservation of energy and momentum
- Big fields that are not large
- Particles, fields, and the measurement of electron spin
- Eliminating electron self-repulsion
- On conceptual issues in classical electrodynamics: prospects and problems of an action-at-a-distance interpretation
- Gauging potentials: Maxwell, Lorenz, Lorentz and others on linking the electric scalar and vector potentials
- Putting positrons into classical Dirac field theory
- Dark matter = modified gravity? Scrutinising the spacetime-matter distinction through the modified gravity/dark matter lens
- The fundamentality of fields
- Burgess and the bucket: the emergence of spacetime in classical theories of gravitation
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