/sci/ - Science & Math

I thought I figured out EM interaction. But maybe not.
I envisioned it as coming only from the movement of charged matter. So for example, two positively charged things that are repulsing each other and are repulsed by outside charges so they completely stationary.
If I were to jerk one of these things away from the other, the other would feel less of a repulsion in that direction and would move in that direction. And that is how energy is transferred.
Same thing if I jerked the thing towards the other thing. It would feel a greater repulsion and move in that direction.
The EM interaction, the transfer of energy, the photon exchange, is all based on this. And the polarization of wave is just the direction of the changing amount of repulsion.

That makes sense. But I was also thinking about how electrons in atoms can absorb and emit EM radiation that changes their energy level. I assume electrons are stationary and are still the same charge, so how could they effect the EM field to create a photon?