Ed Schweber (edschweb@ix.netcom.com)
Physics Teacher at The Solomon Schechter Day School, West Orange, NJ
To obtain free resources for creative physics teachers visit: http://www.physicsweb.com
Hi all:
The discussion of the vacuum state as a preferred reference frame
reminded me of a related question I have.
In classical E&M the inverse square law for the E field from a point
charge can be explained by the divergence of the field in three dimensional
space.
In QED the E field is said to consist of virtual photons with a finite
life span. It would therefore seem that as the distance from a point charge
increases, the number of virtual photons that live long enough to reach that
distance should decrease.
This drop-off would be on top the spatial divergence of the field
thereby implying a sharper falloff than a simple inverse square relation.