[who_would_fardels_bear]

There was a fellow in Texas that came up with a theory that the electron was actually a toroidal sheet of charge surrounding the nuclei. According to his calculations the toroidal charge sheet could rotate without emitting radiation and so could remain in a stable orbit.

I haven't kept up to see if this is still a going theory. It would be interesting if it turned out he was right, but that physicists resisted his theory because the math would be too difficult to work with. After all, points are easier to model than toroidal sheets.

[Boogieman]

“It would be interesting if it turned out he was right, but that physicists resisted his theory because the math would be too difficult to work with. After all, points are easier to model than toroidal sheets.”

I think that kind of thing definitely happens, at least when we get to the level of QM. As long as we can get results that work well enough for our needs, I don’t think most scientists are too particular if the model actuality reflects the underlying reality in the most accurate way.