A new classical theory of electrons

Abstract

In the theory of the electromagnetic field without charges, the potentials are not fixed by the field, but are subject to gauge transformations. The theory thus involves more dynamical variables than are physically needed. It is possible by destroying the gauge transformations to make the superfluous variables acquire a physical significance and describe electric charges. One gets in this way a simplified classical theory of electrons, which appears to be more suitable than the usual one as a basis for a passage to the quantum theory.