Radiation reaction in 2+1 electrodynamics

A self-action problem for a pointlike charged particle arbitrarily moving in flat spacetime of three dimensions is considered. Outgoing waves carry energy-momentum and angular momentum; the radiation removes energy and angular momentum from the source which then undergoes a radiation reaction. We decompose Noether quantities carried by electromagnetic field into bound and radiative components. The bound terms are absorbed by individual particle's characteristics within the renormalization procedure. Radiative terms together with already renormalized 3-momentum and angular momentum of pointlike charge constitute the total conserved quantities of our particle plus field system. Their differential consequences yield the effective equation of motion of radiating charge in an external electromagnetic field. In this integrodifferential equation the radiation reaction is determined by Lorentz force of pointlike charge acting upon itself plus nonlocal term which provides finiteness of the self-action.Comment: 46 pages, 6 figure

Optical geometry analysis of the electromagnetic self-force

We present an analysis of the behaviour of the electromagnetic self-force for charged particles in a conformally static spacetime, interpreting the results with the help of optical geometry. Some conditions for the vanishing of the local terms in the self-force are derived and discussed.Comment: 18 pages; 2 figure

The Lorentz-Dirac and Landau-Lifshitz equations from the perspective of modern renormalization theory

This paper uses elementary techniques drawn from renormalization theory to derive the Lorentz-Dirac equation for the relativistic classical electron from the Maxwell-Lorentz equations for a classical charged particle coupled to the electromagnetic field. I show that the resulting effective theory, valid for electron motions that change over distances large compared to the classical electron radius, reduces naturally to the Landau-Lifshitz equation. No familiarity with renormalization or quantum field theory is assumed

Rutherford scattering with radiation damping

We study the effect of radiation damping on the classical scattering of charged particles. Using a perturbation method based on the Runge-Lenz vector, we calculate radiative corrections to the Rutherford cross section, and the corresponding energy and angular momentum losses.Comment: Latex, 11 pages, 4 eps figure

Late-Time Behavior of Stellar Collapse and Explosions: I. Linearized Perturbations

Problem with the figures should be corrected. Apparently a broken uuencoder was the cause.Comment: 16pp, RevTex, 6 figures (included), NSF-ITP-93-8

Acceleration and Classical Electromagnetic Radiation

Classical radiation from an accelerated charge is reviewed along with the reciprocal topic of accelerated observers detecting radiation from a static charge. This review commemerates Bahram Mashhoon's 60th birthday.Comment: To appear in Gen. Rel. Gra

Causal Classical Theory of Radiation Damping

It is shown how initial conditions can be appropriately defined for the integration of Lorentz-Dirac equations of motion. The integration is performed \QTR{it}{forward} in time. The theory is applied to the case of the motion of an electron in an intense laser pulse, relevant to nonlinear Compton scattering.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figure

Helical Symmetry in Linear Systems

We investigate properties of solutions of the scalar wave equation and Maxwell's equations on Minkowski space with helical symmetry. Existence of local and global solutions with this symmetry is demonstrated with and without sources. The asymptotic properties of the solutions are analyzed. We show that the Newman--Penrose retarded and advanced scalars exhibit specific symmetries and generalized peeling properties.Comment: 11 page

Aspects of electrostatics in a weak gravitational field

Several features of electrostatics of point charged particles in a weak, homogeneous, gravitational field are discussed using the Rindler metric to model the gravitational field. Some previously known results are obtained by simpler and more transparent procedures and are interpreted in an intuitive manner. Specifically: (i) We show that the electrostatic potential of a charge at rest in the Rindler frame is expressible as A_0=(q/l) where l is the affine parameter distance along the null geodesic from the charge to the field point. (ii) We obtain the sum of the electrostatic forces exerted by one charge on another in the Rindler frame and discuss its interpretation. (iii) We show how a purely electrostatic term in the Rindler frame appears as a radiation term in the inertial frame. (In part, this arises because charges at rest in a weak gravitational field possess additional weight due to their electrostatic energy. This weight is proportional to the acceleration and falls inversely with distance -- which are the usual characteristics of a radiation field.) (iv) We also interpret the origin of the radiation reaction term by extending our approach to include a slowly varying acceleration. Many of these results might have possible extensions for the case of electrostatics in an arbitrary static geometry. [Abridged Abstract]Comment: 26 pages; accepted for publication in Gen.Rel.Gra