Related papers: There are no particles, there are only fields
Experts in quantum field theory (QFT) generally answer the question of the ``size of an electron'' with ``point-like''. On the other hand, QFT recognizes quantum effects, shielding by virtual particles, the so-called polarization cloud,…
In Bohmian mechanics elementary particles exist objectively, as point particles moving according to a law determined by a wavefunction. In this context, questions as to whether the particles of a certain species are real--questions such as,…
The classical electromagnetic field of a spinless point electron is described in a formalism with extended causality by discrete finite transverse point-vector fields with discrete and localized point interactions. These fields are taken as…
At the primary level of reality as described by quantum field theory, a fundamental particle like an electron represents a stable, discrete, propagating excited state of its underlying quantum field. QFT also tells us that the lowest vacuum…
According to classical physics particles are basic building blocks of the world. Classical particles are distinguishable objects, individuated by physical characteristics. By contrast, in quantum mechanics the standard view is that…
Quantum interference phenomena are widely viewed as posing a challenge to the classical worldview. Feynman even went so far as to proclaim that they are the only mystery and the basic peculiarity of quantum mechanics. Many have also argued…
While free and weakly interacting particles are well described by a a second-quantized nonlinear Schr\"odinger field, or relativistic versions of it, the fields of strongly interacting particles are governed by effective actions, whose…
The introduction of spinor and other massive fields by ``quantizing'' particles (corpuscles) is conceptually misleading. Only spatial fields must be postulated to form the fundamental objects to be quantized (that is, to define a formal…
Since the quantum field theory treats a system of particles, there must be a distribution which is associated with the system of particles. It means that a meaningful quantity is adjoined in the system of particles. It seems that these…
The reader surely knows what particles physics is about: finding building blocks of nature that appear elementary at a given time and study their interactions - so why in the world this essay? The problem is how to arrive at a fundamental…
The long-standing challenge to describing charged particle dynamics in strong classical electromagnetic fields is how to incorporate classical radiation, classical radiation reaction and quantized photon emission into a consistent unified…
The classical electromagnetic field of a spinless point electron is described in a formalism with extended causality by discrete finite point-vector fields with discrete and localized point interactions. These fields are taken as a…
A four-vector field in flat space-time, satisfying a gauge-invariant set of second-order differential equations, is considered as a unified field. The model variational principle corresponds to the general covariance idea and gives rise to…
We comment on a recent paper by Hobson, explaining that quantum "fields" are no more fields than quantum "particles" are particles, so that the replacement of a particle ontology by an all-field ontology cannot solve the typical…
This simple analysis shows that photon-like particles are not strange within the conceptual framework of the classical electromagnetic field theory. Circular polarized waves lead to photons. Thus, light quantum hypothesis is not necessary.
Along with weaving together observations, experiments, and theoretical constructs into a coherent mesh of understanding of the world around us, physics over its past five centuries has continuously refined the base concepts on which the…
We describe both quantum particles and classical particles in terms of a classical statistical ensemble, characterized by a probability distribution in phase space. By use of a wave function in phase space both can be treated in the same…
Quantum particles and classical particles are described in a common setting of classical statistical physics. The property of a particle being "classical" or "quantum" ceases to be a basic conceptual difference. The dynamics differs,…
What is fundamentally quantum? We argue that most of the features, problems, and paradoxes -- such as the measurement problem, the Wigner's friend paradox and its proposed solutions, single particle nonlocality, and no-cloning -- allegedly…
In the operational approach to general probabilistic theories one distinguishes two spaces, the state space of the "elementary systems" and the physical space in which "laboratory devices" are embedded. Each of those spaces has its own…