Locality, QED and classical electrodynamics

Locality, QED and Classical Electrodynamics

We report on some conceptual changes in our present understanding of Quantum Field Theory and muse about possible consequences for the understanding of v > c signals.

Non-Locality in Classical Electrodynamics

Classical electrodynamicsÐif developed consistently, as in Dirac's classical theory of the electronÐis causally non-local. I distinguish two distinct causal locality principles and argue, using Dirac's theory as my main case study, that neither can be reduced to a non-causal principle of local determinism.

Classical Electrodynamics

Massless Classical Electrodynamics

In the direct action form of classical EM we give the equation of motion for a classical massless bare charge without self-interaction in the presence of an external field. That equation permits superluminal speeds and time-reversals, and so is a realization of the Stueckelberg-Feynman view of electrons and positrons as different segments of a single trajectory. We give a particular solution to...

Inconsistency in Classical Electrodynamics

I show that the standard approach to modeling phenomena involving microscopic classical electrodynamics is mathematically inconsistent. I argue that there is no conceptually unproblematic and consistent theory covering the same phenomena to which this inconsistent theory can be thought of as an approximation; and I propose a set of conditions for the acceptability of inconsistent theories. 1. I...