Classical Fields and the Quantum Concept

TL;DR

This paper critically reviews classical field concepts, emphasizing their quantum nature, and analyzes the physical meaning of field singularities and static fields through a classical particle exchange model.

Contribution

It offers a comparative analysis of classical and quantum perspectives on fields, highlighting issues in quantization and clarifying the physical interpretation of field singularities.

Findings

Classical models based on particle exchange illuminate field singularities.

Quantization of classical fields faces fundamental conceptual issues.

Static fields can be understood through classical exchange models.

Abstract

We do a critical review of the Faraday-Maxwell concept of classical field and of its quantization process. With the hindsight knowledge of the essentially quantum character of the interactions, we use a naive classical model of field, based on exchange of classical massless particles, for a comparative and qualitative analysis of the physical content of the Coulomb's and Gauss's laws. It enlightens the physical meaning of a field singularity and of a static field. One can understand the problems on quantizing a classical field but not the hope of quantizing the gravitational field right from General Relativity.