The philosophical underpinning of the absorber theory of radiation

Abstract

This talk deals with the absorber theory of radiation by (Wheeler and Feynman,
1945) and (Wheeler and Feynman, 1949) and advances the idea that the theory is
grounded on the philosophical intuition of overall-processes. Such intuition is represented
by having to consider advanced and retarded radiation as well as the interaction
between absorbers and emitter. I discuss the discrepancy between microdynamic
time-symmetry and the asymmetry of the experimental evidences. In doing so, I
consider (Price, 1991)’s reformulation of the theory and argue that it overlooks at the
philosophical intuition. I then compare the overall-process idea with some accounts
of holism and ultimately suggest that it also played an important role in Feynman’s
later works.

Bio 

Marco Forgione is PhD student at the University of South Carolina and is currently working on Feynman’s foundations of quantum mechanics. His research intersects history and philosophy of physics and investigates the philosophical background of the absorber theory of radiation, path integrals and Feynman diagrams.