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Item Cosmology and action at a distance electrodynamics(American Physical Society, 1995-04-24) Hoyle, F.; Narlikar, J. V.This article reviews the developments in the electrodynamics of direct interparticle action, em-phasizing the achievements in quantum as well as classical electrodynamics. It is shown that the application of the Wheeler-Feynman absorber theory of radiation places stringent requirements on the asymptotic future and past light cones of the universe. All Friedmann cosmologies fail to meet these requirements, but the steady-state and the quasi-steady-state models have the right kind of structure to make the theory work. Further, it is shown that the working theory is free from the problems of divergence that trouble the classical and quantum field theory. In particular, no renormalization is needed: The bare mass and bare charge of an electron are finite. A few ideas relating to the response of the universe to a local microscopic experiment are presented as well as on possible clues to the outstanding issues of foundations of quantum theoryItem Electrodynamics of direct interparticle action I : The quantum mechanical response of the universe(Academic Press, 1969-03-10) Hoyle, F.; Narlikar, J. V.The present paper is the first of a series that seeks to obtain results in agreement with experience from a completely time-symmetric electromagnetic theory-i.e. which does not permit an ad hoc restriction to retarded solutions of time-symmetric equations. It is remarkable that the development of a wholly time-symmetric theory must be along lines entirely different from the usual electrodynamics. While a first quantisation of the particles can readily be carried out, there can be no separate quantisation of the field, since the field is wholly determined by the particles. This raises the question of how practical results that have hitherto been thought to arise from field quantisation can be obtained. The most immediate problem of this kind concerns the spontaneous transitions of atoms. Much of the present paper is directed toward showing that this problem can indeed be solved without the need for field quantisation. Although this question might appear simple compared to other issues in quantum e1ectrodynamics-e.g. vacuum polarisation-it is not trivial in its implication, for the establishment of one such case provides a critical precedent. The path integral method of first quantisation is used to demonstrate that provided the Universe is a perfect absorber along the future light cone the usual formulae for level shifts and for spontaneous transitions can be obtained in a steady-state model of the Universe, but not in open Friedmann models.Item On the removal of divergences in electrodynamics : A global point of view(Royal Society Publishing, 1993-08-09) Hoyle, F.; Narlikar, J. V.This paper explores the implications of Dirac's seminal work on the concept of self-energy of a charged particle in classical electrodynamics. To avoid the notion of divergent acceleration through self-action, Dirac offered an alternative that involved the existence of preacceleration and an apparent departure from the inherent causality of special relativity. It is argued that Dirac's solution appears naturally in the electrodynamics described by action at a distance. In this framework the notion of self-action is replaced by that of the response of the universe on the large scale. Provided the universe has the correct large-scale structure, there are no divergent integrals either in the classical or the quantum version of electrodynamics. The price one has to pay involves replacing the purely local Lorentz invariant picture by a global cosmological one. On the other hand the price of standard renormalizable quantum electrodynamics is that of the theoretical mass of the electron is infinitely negative, a requirement that Dirac regarded as absurd, far worse than the loss of local invariance in favour of global invariance, the position adopted here.