There Are no Particles, There Are Only Quantized Fields

What are photons, electrons, and other quantum objects? Chapters 4 and 5 present many independent arguments showing that quanta are spatially extended waves in universal fields and that these things cannot be small particles. In this chapter, we discuss QP's central principle: The universal fields are quantized, i.e. they come in identical units, each containing a small amount of energy. Despite their possibly large spatial extension, quanta have certain particle-like properties such as countability. Quantum field theory (QFT) describes the dynamics of the universal fields mathematically. In the non-relativistic limit, this description reduces to the Schrodinger equation. An electron is a wave in the electron field or “psi” field. Its “quantum state” is the real configuration of that wave. That is, the electron is extended in space in just the manner described by its quantum state, analogously to the way an EM field is extended in space. Once it is understood that QP is a theory about fields, phenomena such as the 2-slit experiment are no longer paradoxical. We describe, conceptually and mathematically, the theory of the 2-slit experiment.