Assume two opposite charges at a big distance from one another, and placed in vacuum. The charges are in relative movement with constant velocity. At a certain moment the charges "feel" one the presence of the other. How is that done? There is vacuum all around, and charges in uniform movement don't emit electromagnetic waves. So, how though, do they "feel" one another?
What yes IS in the vacuum that carries the electrostatic field?
Some people hold that there are virtual particles. Other people hold that virtual particles don't exist in reality and are only a tool of calculus in Feynman diagrams. Though, the vacuum has a dielectric constant. WHAT is there in the vacuum that becomes polarized and carries/makes possible the electrostatic field to be present at a distance from the charge?
Dear Sofia,
I'm not sure anyone can really answer that question. The vacuum is not "nothingness", it has properties. One property is that it supports various fields. Quantum field theory says these fields consist of virtual particles being exchanged between real particles subject to the fields. There is evidence for the existence of these particles, for example, the Casimir effect. I'm sure this helps not at all.
Oh, dear.... If I were you Sofia (and assuming you are not working
at the very extremities of modern physics) I would be bamboozled
by all the above, except the answer provided by Francis Redfern.
Science has great difficulty explaining the nature of the universe,
although we must admit that it takes a great deal of courage (not
to methion blather, endless "research" papers, and an excessive
dose of presumption) to face up to such questions as yours.
One answer is the same as would be given for magnetism, first
addressed by my ancestor William Gilbert of Colchester -- way
back in 1600, who grappled with the deep problem of action at
a distance in his seminal book "Die Magnete" ('On Magnetism').
I thoroughly recommend you buy a modern copy.
Or, come to that, the fusion of electric charge and magnetism
in everyday radio waves.
Theorists can postulate about these things, but in the end, it
all comes down to this: If one cannot provide an explanation
that can be understood by at least 50% of world's adults --
and a large number of bright children - can we say that these
"answers" are USEFUL?
My honest answer to your question is: "I have NO idea".
Barrie Gilbert
The meaning of Heisenberg's uncertainty principle is that "something" can arise from "nothing" if the "something" returns to the "nothing" after a very short time—an interval too short in which to be observed. These microviolations of energy conservation are not only allowed to happen, they do, and so "empty" space is seething with particle-antiparticle pairs that come into being and then annihilate each other again after a very short interval. Although these particles cannot be observed individually, their existence can be demonstrated.
The Casimir effect is only one manifestation of the reality of virtual particles. Virtual particles also mediate the exchange of all forces between particles.
With regards.
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