Unified Corrected Electromagnetism, Electrodynamics, and Quantum Electrodynamics within Global Realism: Finite Topological Charge, Retarded Vacuum Response, Historical Feedback, and the Quantum-Electrodynamic Calculation Interface

Abstract

We construct a unified entry point to electromagnetism within the global-realism framework. The theory retains exactly three physical axioms: microscopic ontic definiteness with finite localization, physical reality of a unique spacetime–vacuum substrate, and persistent causal retarded source–response coupling between finite matter histories and that substrate. Maxwell equations, Lorentz force, gauge symmetry, photons, Hilbert and Fock spaces, field operators, perturbation theory, and renormalization are treated as derived equations, balance laws, representation choices, or calculation procedures rather than additional physical axioms. Starting from finite conserved charge distributions, we formulate a coupled carrier–electromagnetic-field–history system with explicit constraint, energy, boundary, and no-double-counting ledgers. The analysis covers local well-posedness, continuation criteria, weak failure limits, moving world tubes, topology-changing junctions, relativistic finite-core self-action, covariant multipole transport, passive self-impedance, causal Volterra dynamics, and controlled radiation-reaction reductions. Historical response is represented through positive matrix spectral measures, minimal conservative dilations, finite-window identifiability, nonstationary noise covariance, and common-parameter rejection criteria. The framework derives classical vacuum and medium electrodynamics as controlled representations. It develops two-scale Maxwell homogenization, interface layers, spatial dispersion, bianisotropic response, hydrodynamic conductors, superconducting spectral weight, and non-rational material continua. Nonlinear and strong-field sectors are analyzed using reduced characteristic polynomials, hyperbolicity and convexity criteria, spatial closed-time-path evolution, pair-production backreaction, uniform turning-point approximations, and finite-time depletion bounds. The quantum interface preserves the established Dirac–Pauli, canonical, path-integral, propagator, LSZ, Ward–Takahashi, optical-theorem, renormalization-group, and effective-action machinery of QED while distinguishing physical objects from their mathematical representations. Standard renormalized QED remains the mandatory recovered theory. Finite-core and historical corrections enter only through gauge-complete, overlap-subtracted residuals with shared parameters and held-out falsification criteria. Structural, mathematical, and perturbative closure remain partial, whereas nonperturbative, nonstandard numerical, and experimental closure remain open. Keywords Global realism; electromagnetism; electrodynamics; quantum electrodynamics; finite charge distributions; retarded response; historical memory; radiation reaction; electromagnetic media; homogenization; nonlinear electrodynamics; strong-field QED; gauge invariance; Ward–Takahashi identities; causal Volterra equations; spectral representations; effective field theory; nonperturbative closure.