Dynamics and causality constraints in field theory

Abstract

We discuss the physical meaning and the geometric interpretation of causality implementation in classical field theories. Causality is normally implemented through kinematical constraints on fields but we show that in a zero-distance limit they also carry a dynamical information, which calls for a revision of our standard concepts of interacting fields. The origin of infinities and other inconsistencies in field theories is traced to fields defined with support on the lightcone; a finite and consistent field theory requires a lightcone generator as the field support.