One need only postulate that events in space-time are connected
("causally", if you want). I agree that the model is much more satisfying
to us humans if it includes a travelling field (or something) as the
mechanism for those connections. That is surely due to our everyday view
of space-time as "space-located things evolving in time", and ascribing
"existence" to only the "present" (a slippery concept). This is our view
and is perhaps not unique - I certainly do not find it compelling, at
least "prima facie".
Bob Sciamanda (W3NLV)
Physics, Edinboro Univ of PA (em)
trebor@velocity.net http://www.velocity.net/~trebor
----- Original Message -----
From: "Michael Edmiston" <edmiston@BLUFFTON.EDU>
To: <PHYS-L@lists.nau.edu>
Sent: Friday, May 17, 2002 11:42 AM
Subject: Re: Is photon a wave packet ?
| Okay, but it seems it is possible to do a set of experiments that imply
| something is traveling along a particular path. For example, a second
| detector placed between the source and the original detector seems to
| "intercept" the event. Would the proper way to describe this be...
| insertion of a detector between the source and the original detector
changes
| the boudary conditions for the subsequent emission of radiation from the
| source?
|
| If that is true, would it be possible to have the original detector in
| place, thus setting some boundary conditions for emission, then after
| emission the second detector is moved into place "before the E&M wave
gets
| there?"
|
| In astronomy we are detecting photons that took several years to
billions of
| years to get here. Presumably, when some of those photons were created
| Earth wasn't even here let alone people with telescopes and detectors.
But
| now we are here, and it seems we are intercepting signals from ancient
| events that initiated before we were here, and these signals would have
gone
| someplace else were we not here to intercept them.
| Michael D. Edmiston, Ph.D. Phone/voice-mail:
419-358-3270
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