Linear stochastic electrodynamics: Looking for the physics behind quantum theory
Luis de la Peña, Ana Marı́a Cetto
In this chapter, which covers part of the course given at ELAF, a straight-forward procedure is presented that leads from the basic postulates of stochastic electrodynamics to the usual formalism of quantum theory. The theory thus developed is called linear stochastic electrodynamics, to underline that one of its basic features is the (asymptotic) linear response of atomic systems to the background field. The chapter starts with a brief discussion of some open questions in quantum theory and of the possibility to find an answer to them by resorting to the zeropoint radiation field as the source of the quantum behavior of matter. The basic properties of this field are discussed, and a brief enumeration is made of some of the positive results and vital shortcomings of standard stochastic electrodynamics. After identifying the source of these shortcomings in the assumption that the background field is not altered by its interaction with matter, linear stochastic electrodynamics is developed and shown to lead, under certain approximations, to a consistent picture of both matter and field quantization. In the concluding part, it is shown that also the electron spin can be considered to be generated by the interaction of the particle with the zeropoint field; in particular, the two-valuedness of the spin projection is associated with the existence of just two independent states of polarization of the field.
AIP conference proceedings•Jan 1, 1999•3 citations