IsisCB Explore

Article ID: CBB322806876

When Fields Are Not Degrees of Freedom (2021)

Hartenstein, Vera (Author)
Hubert, Mario (Author)

British Journal for the Philosophy of Science
Volume: 72
Issue: 1
Pages: 245-275

URI: http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1093/bjps/axy060

DOI: 10.1093/bjps/axy060

Outside Links

WorldCat

Google Scholar

JSTOR

Academia.edu

Electromagnetism Philosophy of science Mathematics and its relationship to science Fields and field theory Electrodynamics 20th century 19th century Lorentz, Hendrik Antoon Maxwell, James Clerk

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/

Citations Indexes

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 (/isis/citation/CBB000110635/)

Article Alisa Bokulich; (2015)
Maxwell, Helmholtz, and the Unreasonable Effectiveness of the Method of Physical Analogy (/isis/citation/CBB591442121/)

Article Frisch, Mathias; (2002)
Non-Locality in Classical Electrodynamics (/isis/citation/CBB000200158/)

Article Francesco Nappo; (2021)
The double nature of Maxwell's physical analogies (/isis/citation/CBB554615043/)

Book Bruce J. Hunt; (2021)
Imperial Science: Cable Telegraphy and Electrical Physics in the Victorian British Empire (/isis/citation/CBB544275565/)

Chapter Donatella Marmottini; Raffaele Pisano; (2017)
Nature-of-Science Teaching: notes on the Lagrangian Methods in Maxwell’s Electromagnetic Theory (/isis/citation/CBB808838171/)

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 (/isis/citation/CBB336368332/)

Book Lange, Marc; (2002)
An Introduction to the Philosophy of Physics: Locality, Fields, Energy, and Mass (/isis/citation/CBB000201447/)

Article Jentschura, U. D.; Nándori, I.; (2014)
Attempts at a Determination of the Fine-Structure Constant from First Principles: A Brief Historical Overview (/isis/citation/CBB001421684/)

Article Rinat Magdievich Nugayev; (2016)
Maxwellian Electrodynamics Genesis and Development: Intertheoretic Context (/isis/citation/CBB895974945/)

Article Qian, Changyan; (2003)
The Chronology of Hertz's Electromagnetic Researches and the Process of the Conversion of His Thought (/isis/citation/CBB000340050/)

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 (/isis/citation/CBB000501330/)

Essay Review Nordmann, Alfred; (2000)
Heinrich Hertz: Scientific biography and experimental life (/isis/citation/CBB000110363/)

Article Helge Kragh; (2018)
The Lorenz-Lorentz Formula: Origin and Early History (/isis/citation/CBB110038655/)

Article Hona, Giora; Goldstein, Bernard R.; (2012)
Maxwell's Contrived Analogy: An Early Version of the Methodology of Modeling (/isis/citation/CBB001211045/)

Article Lazaroff-Puck, Cameron; (2015)
Gearing up for Lagrangian Dynamics: The Flywheel Analogy in Maxwell's 1865 Paper on Electrodynamics (/isis/citation/CBB001553278/)

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’ (/isis/citation/CBB497643147/)

Thesis Cameron Lazaroff-Puck; (2021)
What Theories Are Made Of: How Industry and Culture Shaped Maxwell's Theories of Electromagnetism (/isis/citation/CBB411319578/)

Article Brenni, Paolo; (2004)
Mechanical and Hydraulic Models for Illustrating Electromagnetic Phenomena (/isis/citation/CBB000770307/)

Article Stanley, Matthew; (2012)
By Design: James Clerk Maxwell and the Evangelical Unification of Science (/isis/citation/CBB001231540/)

Comments

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