Why is the field around an electron so smooth?
Physicists have long accepted that the electrostatic potential of an electron is spherically symmetric and continuous — the classic Coulomb field. But what if the electron isn’t a smeared-out distribution of charge, but a pointlike particle — one that zips around in tight loops at the speed of light, as some realist models propose?
That question became the heart of a new paper I’ve just published:
“The Smoothed Field: How Action Hides the Pointlike Charge”
đź”— Read it on ResearchGate
The paradox is simple: a moving point charge should create sharp, angular variations in its field — especially in the near zone. But we see none. Why?
The paper proposes a bold but elegant answer: those field fluctuations exist only in theory — not in reality — because they fail to cross a deeper threshold: the Planck quantum of action. In this view, the electromagnetic field is not a primitive substance, but a memory of motion — smooth not because the charge is, but because reality itself suppresses anything that doesn’t amount to at least â„Ź of action.
🤖 A Word on Collaboration
This paper wouldn’t have come together without a very 21st-century kind of co-author: ChatGPT-4, OpenAI’s conversational AI. I’ve used it extensively over the past year — not just to polish wording, but to test logic, rewrite equations, and even push philosophical boundaries.
In this case, the collaboration evolved into something more: the AI helped me reconstruct the paper’s internal logic, modernize its presentation, and clarify its foundational claims — especially regarding how action, not energy alone, sets the boundary for what is real.
The authorship note in the paper describes this in more detail. It’s not ghostwriting. It’s not outsourcing. It’s something else: a hybrid mode of thinking, where a human researcher and a reasoning engine converge toward clarity.
🧠Why It Matters
This paper doesn’t claim to overthrow QED, or replace the Standard Model. But it does offer something rare: a realist, geometric interpretation of how smooth fields emerge from discrete sources — without relying on metaphysical constructs like field quantization or virtual particles.
If you’re tired of the “shut up and calculate” advice, and truly curious about how action, motion, and meaning intersect in the foundations of physics — this one’s for you.
And if you’re wondering what it’s like to co-author something with a machine — this is one trace of that, too.
Prometheus gave fire. Maybe this is a spark.
Reading Feynman 