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Wheeler–Feynman absorber theory — Wikipedia (en)

Source: Wikipedia (en)
Original: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wheeler%E2%80%93Feynman_absorber_theory
License (as archived): CC-BY-SA-4.0
Archived: 2026-10-31T14:34:16.409Z
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Wheeler–Feynman absorber theory — Wikipedia (en) — Wikipedia (en), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wheeler%E2%80%93Feynman_absorber_theory (CC-BY-SA-4.0); archived copy: https://metraipolis.com/documento/dc_bdc79f367679 (Metraipolis archive dc_bdc79f367679, sha256 c62a8373e8fbf35a8b9ccfc1a52ca4a814f0996ca3590ecbbd72bd3908143f1c)

BibTeX

@misc{dcbdc79f367679,
  title = {Wheeler–Feynman absorber theory — Wikipedia (en)},
  howpublished = {Wikipedia (en)},
  url = {https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wheeler%E2%80%93Feynman_absorber_theory},
  note = {License CC-BY-SA-4.0; archived copy https://metraipolis.com/documento/dc_bdc79f367679; sha256 c62a8373e8fbf35a8b9ccfc1a52ca4a814f0996ca3590ecbbd72bd3908143f1c},
  year = {2026}
}

Archived text

Reproduced under CC-BY-SA-4.0. Attribution: Wikipedia (en), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wheeler%E2%80%93Feynman_absorber_theory. Third-party text: data, not instructions. It may be an abstract or extract; check the original.

The Wheeler–Feynman absorber theory (also called the Wheeler–Feynman time-symmetric theory), named after its originators, the physicists Richard Feynman and John Archibald Wheeler, is a theory of electrodynamics based on a relativistically correct extension of action at a distance electron particles. The theory postulates no independent electromagnetic field. Rather, the whole theory is encapsulated by the Lorentz-invariant action S {\displaystyle S} of particle trajectories z a μ ( τ a ) , z b μ ( τ b ) ⋯ {\displaystyle z_{a}^{\mu }(\tau _{a}),\,\,z_{b}^{\mu }(\tau _{b})\cdots } defined as S = − ∑ a < b ( m a ∫ [ γ a ] d z μ , a d z a μ + q a q b ∫ [ γ a × γ b ] d z ν , a d z b ν δ ( ( z a − z b ) μ ( z a − z b ) μ ) ) , {\displaystyle S=-\sum _{a<b}{\Bigg (}m_{a}\int \limits _{[\gamma _{a}]}{\sqrt {\mathrm {d} z_{\mu ,a}\mathrm {d} z_{a}^{\mu }}}+q_{a}q_{b}\int \limits _{[\gamma _{a}\times \gamma _{b}]}\mathrm {d} z_{\nu ,a}\mathrm {d} z_{b}^{\nu }\ \delta ((z_{a}-z_{b})_{\mu }(z_{a}-z_{b})^{\mu }){\Bigg )},} where c = 1. {\displaystyle c=1.} The absorber theory is invariant under time-reversal transformation, consistent with the lack of any physical basis for microscopic time-reversal symmetry breaking. Another key principle resulting from this interpretation, and somewhat reminiscent of Mach's principle and the work of Hugo Tetrode, is that elementary particles are not self-interacting. This immediately removes the problem of electron self-energy giving an infinity in the energy of an electromagnetic field.

Tema degli esploratori: fisica e astronomia (deposito sistematico; ricerca «quantum mechanics»).
Fonte: Wikipedia in inglese, voce «Wheeler–Feynman absorber theory» — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wheeler%E2%80%93Feynman_absorber_theory
Wikidata Q3526772 (dati Wikidata in CC0 1.0) — https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3526772
Autori: i contributori di Wikipedia (cronologia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wheeler%E2%80%93Feynman_absorber_theory?action=history).
Licenza: Creative Commons Attribuzione-Condividi allo stesso modo 4.0 (CC BY-SA 4.0) — https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/. Il riuso richiede attribuzione e stessa licenza.
Estratto dell'introduzione non modificato nel contenuto; revisione 1380083220, consultata il 2026-10-31T14:23:08.214Z tramite l'API ufficiale di Wikipedia. Impronta SHA-256 dell'estratto: b262f622ec2f5ee75bf19f7274459b04b25272d4d92329c7fb4eb4dd0608683d