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On Grünbaum and Retrocausation in Classical Electrodynamics

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 April 2022

Charles Nissim-Sabat
Charles Nissim-Sabat*
Affiliation:
Northeastern Illinois University
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Abstract

A detailed analysis is made of Grünbaum's claim that the Abraham-Lorentz (AL) and Dirac-Lorentz (DL) equations have no bearing on causality. It is pointed out that (a) both equations are derived from F = ma, and thus should obey the same causality conditions as Newton's law, (b) independently of what boundary conditions are imposed, non-causal behavior is always along the same straight line as the force, (c) the distinction in status between laws and boundary conditions which Grünbaum imposes is one which is not always useful, especially since what is a law in one formulation of the theory can become a boundary condition in another, and thus it is argued that a complete theory must be such that laws and boundary conditions form a coherent whole, (d) the asymptotic boundary conditions that are applied are in agreement with experiment, (e) the AL equation is such that if the “effect,” the acceleration as function of time, is known, then the “cause,” the force, can be determined. In addition, it is noted that in the DL equation the acceleration at times later than t influences the acceleration at t. Finally, it is pointed out that electrodynamics is indeed a causal field theory, and that retrocausality is due to the transition from a field description to a particle description.

Type
Research Article
Information
Philosophy of Science , Volume 46 , Issue 1 , March 1979 , pp. 118 - 135
Copyright
Copyright © Philosophy of Science Association 1979

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Footnotes

†

I take this opportunity to acknowledge my appreciation to R. M. Stehman for many stimulating conversations over the years concerning matters discussed in this paper.

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