The Maxwell field equations relative to a uniformly accelerated frame, and
the variational principle from which they are obtained, are formulated in terms
of the technique of geometrical gauge invariant potentials. They refer to the
transverse magnetic (TM) and the transeverse electric (TE) modes. This gauge
invariant "2+2" decomposition is used to see how the Coulomb field of a charge,
static in an accelerated frame, has properties that suggest features of
electromagnetism which are different from those in an inertial frame. In
particular, (1) an illustrative calculation shows that the Larmor radiation
reaction equals the electrostatic attraction between the accelerated charge and
the charge induced on the surface whose history is the event horizon, and (2) a
spectral decomposition of the Coulomb potential in the accelerated frame
suggests the possibility that the distortive effects of this charge on the
Rindler vacuum are akin to those of a charge on a crystal lattice.Comment: 27 pages, PlainTex. Related papers available at
http://www.math.ohio-state.edu/~gerlac
