Article ID: CBB322806876

When Fields Are Not Degrees of Freedom (2021)

unapi

We show that in the Maxwell–Lorentz theory of classical electrodynamics most initial values for fields and particles lead to an ill-defined dynamics, as they exhibit singularities or discontinuities along light-cones. This phenomenon suggests that the Maxwell equations and the Lorentz force law ought rather to be read as a system of delay differential equations, that is, differential equations that relate a function and its derivatives at different times. This mathematical reformulation, however, leads to physical and philosophical consequences for the ontological status of the electromagnetic field. In particular, fields cannot be taken as independent degrees of freedom, which suggests that one should not add them to the ontology.

...More
Citation URI
https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB322806876/

Similar Citations

Article D'Agostino, Salvo; (2000)
On the difficulties of the transition from Maxwell's and Hertz's pure-field theories to Lorentz's electron

Article Alisa Bokulich; (2015)
Maxwell, Helmholtz, and the Unreasonable Effectiveness of the Method of Physical Analogy

Article Frisch, Mathias; (2002)
Non-Locality in Classical Electrodynamics

Book Lange, Marc; (2002)
An Introduction to the Philosophy of Physics: Locality, Fields, Energy, and Mass

Article Francesco Nappo; (2021)
The double nature of Maxwell's physical analogies

Article Rinat Magdievich Nugayev; (2016)
Maxwellian Electrodynamics Genesis and Development: Intertheoretic Context

Article Jentschura, U. D.; Nándori, I.; (2014)
Attempts at a Determination of the Fine-Structure Constant from First Principles: A Brief Historical Overview

Chapter Salvo D'Agostino; (2016)
What is light? What is ether? An overwiew of Einstein’s problem on the abolition of ether and on its inheliminable presence in General Relativity

Book Bruce J. Hunt; (2021)
Imperial Science: Cable Telegraphy and Electrical Physics in the Victorian British Empire

Chapter Donatella Marmottini; Raffaele Pisano; (2017)
Nature-of-Science Teaching: notes on the Lagrangian Methods in Maxwell’s Electromagnetic Theory

Essay Review Nordmann, Alfred; (2000)
Heinrich Hertz: Scientific biography and experimental life

Article Qian, Changyan; (2003)
The Chronology of Hertz's Electromagnetic Researches and the Process of the Conversion of His Thought

Article Assis, Andre Koch Torres; Reich, Karin; Wiederkehr, Heinrich; (2004)
On the Electromagnetic and Electrostatic Units of Current and the Meaning of the Absolute System of Units: For the 200th Anniversary of Wilhelm Weber's Birth

Article Helge Kragh; (2018)
The Lorenz-Lorentz Formula: Origin and Early History

Article Hona, Giora; Goldstein, Bernard R.; (2012)
Maxwell's Contrived Analogy: An Early Version of the Methodology of Modeling

Article Lazaroff-Puck, Cameron; (2015)
Gearing up for Lagrangian Dynamics: The Flywheel Analogy in Maxwell's 1865 Paper on Electrodynamics

Article Cameron Lazaroff-Puck; (2024)
Empire-Laden Theory: The Technological and Colonial Roots of Maxwell’s Theories of Electromagnetism

Article Stanley, Matthew; (2012)
By Design: James Clerk Maxwell and the Evangelical Unification of Science

Article Daniel Jon Mitchell; (2017)
What's Nu? A Re-Examination of Maxwell's ‘Ratio-of-Units’ Argument, from the Mechanical Theory of the Electromagnetic Field to ‘On the Elementary Relations Between Electrical Measurements’

Article Hou, Yude; (2004)
Didn't (Maxwell) Prophesy the Existence of Electromagnetic Wave?

Authors & Contributors
Lazaroff-Puck, Cameron
Assis, Andre Koch Torres
Bokulich, Alisa
D'Agostino, Salvatore
Frisch, Mathias
Goldstein, Bernard R.
Journals
Studies in History and Philosophy of Science
Ziran Kexueshi Yanjiu (Studies in the History of Natural Sciences)
Archive for History of Exact Sciences
British Journal for the History of Science
British Journal for the Philosophy of Science
European Physical Journal H
Publishers
Pavia University Press
Cambridge University Press
Blackwell Publishers
Concepts
Electromagnetism
Physics
Electrodynamics
Philosophy of science
Electricity; magnetism
Fields and field theory
People
Maxwell, James Clerk
Hertz, Heinrich Rudolph
Lorentz, Hendrik Antoon
Dirac, Paul Adrien Maurice
Einstein, Albert
Faraday, Michael
Time Periods
19th century
20th century
Places
Great Britain
Europe
Comments

Be the first to comment!

{{ comment.created_by.username }} on {{ comment.created_on | date:'medium' }}

Log in or register to comment