Discretization and Interaction of Fields via the Classical Kaluza-Klein Theory

Abstract

We show how the metric of a five-dimensional hyperspace-time can be used to model the quantum nature of electromagnetic interactions. The space-time neighborhood of the point where such an interaction takes place bends according to the curl and the derivative of the local electromagnetic four-potential, both calculated in the direction of the latter. In this geometric setting, the presence of a non-gravitational field is needed to induce the discretization of any gravitational field. We also exploit two variants of the classical Kaluza-Klein five-dimensional theory to obtain coupled generalizations of Einstein ’ s and Maxwell ’ s equations. The first variant involves an unspecified scalar field that may be related to the inflaton. The equations of the second variant show a direct interdependency of gravitation and electromagnetism that would emerge or be activated through the production of electromagnetic waves.