On the Emergence of the Coulomb Forces in Quantum Electrodynamics

A simple transformation of field variables eliminates Coulomb forces from the theory of quantum electrodynamics. This suggests that Coulomb forces may be an emergent phenomenon rather than being fundamental. This possibility is investigated in the context of reducible quantum electrodynamics. It is...

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Main Author: Jan Naudts
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2017-01-01
Series:Advances in High Energy Physics
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2017/7232798
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author Jan Naudts
author_facet Jan Naudts
author_sort Jan Naudts
collection DOAJ
description A simple transformation of field variables eliminates Coulomb forces from the theory of quantum electrodynamics. This suggests that Coulomb forces may be an emergent phenomenon rather than being fundamental. This possibility is investigated in the context of reducible quantum electrodynamics. It is shown that states exist which bind free photon and free electron fields. The binding energy peaks in the long-wavelength limit. This makes it plausible that Coulomb forces result from the interaction of the electron/positron field with long-wavelength transversely polarized photons.
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spelling doaj-art-84d4516fafff48ada563e76d4f16f4922025-02-03T05:59:16ZengWileyAdvances in High Energy Physics1687-73571687-73652017-01-01201710.1155/2017/72327987232798On the Emergence of the Coulomb Forces in Quantum ElectrodynamicsJan Naudts0Physics Department, University of Antwerp, Universiteitsplein 1, 2610 Antwerpen, BelgiumA simple transformation of field variables eliminates Coulomb forces from the theory of quantum electrodynamics. This suggests that Coulomb forces may be an emergent phenomenon rather than being fundamental. This possibility is investigated in the context of reducible quantum electrodynamics. It is shown that states exist which bind free photon and free electron fields. The binding energy peaks in the long-wavelength limit. This makes it plausible that Coulomb forces result from the interaction of the electron/positron field with long-wavelength transversely polarized photons.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2017/7232798
spellingShingle Jan Naudts
On the Emergence of the Coulomb Forces in Quantum Electrodynamics
Advances in High Energy Physics
title On the Emergence of the Coulomb Forces in Quantum Electrodynamics
title_full On the Emergence of the Coulomb Forces in Quantum Electrodynamics
title_fullStr On the Emergence of the Coulomb Forces in Quantum Electrodynamics
title_full_unstemmed On the Emergence of the Coulomb Forces in Quantum Electrodynamics
title_short On the Emergence of the Coulomb Forces in Quantum Electrodynamics
title_sort on the emergence of the coulomb forces in quantum electrodynamics
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2017/7232798
work_keys_str_mv AT jannaudts ontheemergenceofthecoulombforcesinquantumelectrodynamics