Dr LINA JANSSON Lina.Jansson@nottingham.ac.uk
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR
Action at a distance: From Newton’s gravity to quantum theory
Jansson, Lina
Authors
Abstract
Isaac Newton’s theory of gravity seems to postulate action at a distance. Two distant massive bodies act on one another gravitationally instantaneously without a causal mechanism to mediate the action. This paper will argue that a strategy found in the Principia that allows Newton’s theory to be explanatory without providing a causal explanation can be extended to the quantum case. However, while causal action at a distance can be avoided, the explanatory cost of avoiding any form of nonlocality is higher in the quantum case than in the case of Newton’s theory of universal gravitation.
Citation
Jansson, L. (2024). Action at a distance: From Newton’s gravity to quantum theory. Journal of Physics: Conference Series, 2877(1), Article 012075. https://doi.org/10.1088/1742-6596/2877/1/012075
Journal Article Type | Article |
---|---|
Acceptance Date | Oct 14, 2024 |
Online Publication Date | Nov 12, 2024 |
Publication Date | Nov 12, 2024 |
Deposit Date | Dec 13, 2024 |
Publicly Available Date | Jan 2, 2025 |
Journal | Journal of Physics: Conference Series |
Print ISSN | 1742-6588 |
Electronic ISSN | 1742-6596 |
Publisher | IOP Publishing |
Peer Reviewed | Not Peer Reviewed |
Volume | 2877 |
Issue | 1 |
Article Number | 012075 |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1088/1742-6596/2877/1/012075 |
Public URL | https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/42838217 |
Publisher URL | https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1742-6596/2877/1/012075 |
Additional Information | HAPP Centre: 10th Anniversary Commemorative Volume 3rd June 2024 Oxford, United Kingdom |
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Content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. Any further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI.
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