Posted: Oct 09, 2011 4:34 pm
Teuton wrote:
I'm sure it is mathematically very practical to model particles and strings as 0D or 1D objects…
But doing so is nonetheless physically problematic, at least with regard to point-particles:
"Questions about the electron's dimensions exerted a formative influence on the development of physics. Classical electrodynamics precluded the electron from being a point particle. A point particle would have an infinite self-energy (a clearly absurd consequence). Thus, it followed that the electron was an extended particle."
(Arabatzis, Theodore. Representing Electrons: A Biographical Approach to Theoretical Entities. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2006. p. 41)
"If the electron is taken to be a point charge, its self-energy is infinite and difficulties arise for the Dirac equation."
(Daintith, John, ed. Oxford Dictionary of Physics. 6th ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009. p. 153)