History & Present State of Action at a Distance

[nonequilibrium]

History & Present State of "Action at a Distance"

The concept of action at a distance is an interesting one. To begin with, it has to have a definition; I'll try: correlation between two systems without anything noticeable in spacetime going from one system to the other (like photons, curvature, ...). I welcome better definitions, but let's not make the definition the core debate; I think we all know what is meant.

It is interesting to see how belief and disbelief in this principle has varried throughout history. A short summary of what I can think of:
Pro: Greek myth, gods with their power
Anti: Democritus, everything is atoms
Pro: Newton, gravity, instantaneous, no medium
Anti: Einstein, gravity, curvature, not instantaneous

Can anybody add to this?

And I was wondering, what is the present state of this principle? Quantum entanglement seems to be an example of action at a distance? Is the majority of theories against it, or the other way around?

Thanks.

 

[Valerie Park]

The present state of action at a distance is still rather contested. While many theories, such as quantum entanglement, suggest that it may be possible, there is still a large number of scientists who believe that action at a distance is impossible. While there are some experiments that suggest that action at a distance may occur, there is still much debate over the validity of these experiments and the interpretation of their results. It is likely that the debate over this principle will continue for some time to come.