Abstract
IN spite of the great progress made in recent years, the theory of radiation is still in rather an unsatisfactory state. By the methods of Schrödinger it is possible to express the radiation of atoms in the form of electromagnetic waves, but the formulation is quite incomplete, because it fails to give the reaction of the radiation on the emitting system. The theory of Dirac (Proc. Roy. Soc., 114, p. 243) is free from this cardinal fault, but fails to show the relation of radiation to static electric force; it is in fact a valid theory of light, but scarcely an electromagnetic theory. It is of course quite probable that in a complete theory there is no need, or room, for radiation at all, in that the direct interactions of particles according to relativity principles will give all that is required; but radiation must always remain a convenient eliminant, expressive of the effect of a number of particles on a distant one. So it seems not out of place to fit the electromagnetic equations into the general scheme; if they are wrong, it is still interesting to know why Maxwell made the mistake of inventing them!
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DARWIN, C. The Electromagnetic Equations in the Quantum Theory. Nature 123, 203 (1929). https://doi.org/10.1038/123203a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/123203a0
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