Quantum electrodynamics and experiment demonstrate the non-retarded nature of electrodynamical force fields

Abstract

In quantum electrodynamics, the quantitatively most successful theory in the history of science, intercharge forces obeying the inverse square law are due to the exchange of space-like virtual photons. The fundamental quantum process underlying applications as diverse as the gyromagnetic ratio of the electron and electrical machinery is then M{\o}ller scattering $ee \to ee$. Analysis of the quantum amplitude for this process shows that the corresponding intercharge force acts instantaneously. This prediction has been verified in a recent experiment.