Action at a distance
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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In physics, action at a distance is the concept that an object can be moved, changed, or otherwise affected without being physically touched (as in mechanical contact) by another object. That is, it is the nonlocal interaction of objects that are separated in space.
This term was used most often in the context of early theories of gravity and electromagnetism to describe how an object responds to the influence of distant objects. For example, Coulomb's law and Newton's law of universal gravitation are such early theories.
More generally "action at a distance" describes the failure of early atomistic and mechanistic theories which sought to reduce all physical interaction to collision. The exploration and resolution of this problematic phenomenon led to significant developments in physics, from the concept of a field, to descriptions of quantum entanglement and the mediator particles of the Standard Model.
See also
- Dynamism (metaphysics)
- Einstein's thought experiments
- Interaction-free measurement
- Quantum pseudo-telepathy
- Quantum teleportation
- Remote sensing
- Wheeler–Feynman absorber theory
