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The telegraph model of Weber-Gauss, relying on Weber's electrodynamics, modeled instantaneous action at a distance of the electric scalar potential (Coulomb potential) manifesting as propagation of signals at c in a resistanceless wire, through the collective forces of charge carriers in the wire. Despite seeing many allusions to the notion that wireless transmission of signals at c could, similarly, be modeled with Weber's electrodynamics, I've been unable to locate such a model for, say, a simple Hertzian dipole's actions on a remote test charge.

Does such a wireless signaling model exist?

James Bowery
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  • Weber electrodynamics is false (i.e. non-equivalent to Maxwell electrodynamics) and non-mainstream, hence asking for locating such models is off-topic as non-mainstream. – ACuriousMind Dec 02 '15 at 15:00
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    Are questions regarding the history of physics inappropriate? – James Bowery Dec 02 '15 at 15:02
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    They are a grey area - but in any case you're probably better of asking those at [hsm.SE]! – ACuriousMind Dec 02 '15 at 15:03
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    I disagree that this should be closed. Weber EM might indeed be inequivalent to the standard Maxwellian EM but it is still an interesting model and it is still interesting to ask about its precise capabilities. I find this question perfectly on topic, and far from the reasons we have the non-mainstream policy in place. – Emilio Pisanty Dec 02 '15 at 15:06
  • "This is rambling nonsense." was told. - - -

    This concept allows to show, that accelerated particles have higher mass and their charge get shilded more and more. - - Thanks for the link to Weber.

     – HolgerFiedler Dec 02 '15 at 18:57
  • @JamesBowery I'm not sure if this is a history-of-physics question. If it is, then it might be suitable for migration to HSM, as ACuriousMind said (I'm a mod on HSM, so if you need advice about putting it there, than I can help you!). I'm not sure what our non-mainstream policy is, though. I don't think we've ever had to think about it. – HDE 226868 Dec 03 '15 at 01:04
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    Maxwell cited Weber's model in a positive light and dismissed it primarily because of a faulty critique by Helmholtz to the effect that it violated conservation of energy. Later Maxwell retracted this dismissal but, presumably due to the absence of a way to describe electromagnetic energy propagation through space at c, did not attempt any further rehabilitation. This is most ironic not only because c was first described in Weber's work but because vector potential originated with Weber's colleagues and that, presumably, would have contributed to Maxwell's original equations. – James Bowery Dec 03 '15 at 05:27
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    Given this history goes back to the earliest days of electromagnetism it is difficult to know the provenance of possibly apocryphal claims to the effect that Weber, or his later adherents, came up with a way of modeling wireless propagation at c. Perhaps those who object to this question being here are correct -- that such claims are only endemic to "non-mainstream" partisans. It would help considerably if "mainstream" had a better operational definition. For instance, a list of credible journals would be a start. – James Bowery Dec 03 '15 at 05:49

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