Energy conservation for point particles undergoing radiation reaction

The motion of a charged particle interacting with its own electromagnetic field is an area of research that has a long history; this problem has never ceased to fascinate its investigators. On the one hand the theory ought to be straightforward to formulate: one has Maxwell's equations that tell the field how to behave (given the motion of the particle), and one has the Lorentz-force law that tells the particle how to move (given the field). On the other hand the theory is fundamentally ambiguous because of the field singularities that necessarily come with a point particle. While each separate sub-problem can easily be solved, to couple the field to the particle in a self-consistent treatment turns out to be tricky. I believe it is this dilemma (the theory is straightforward but tricky) that has been the main source of the endless fascination. For readers of Classical and Quantum Gravity, the fascination does not end there. For them it is also rooted in the fact that the electromagnetic self-force problem is deeply analogous to the gravitational self-force problem, which is of direct relevance to future gravitational wave observations. The motion of point particles in curved spacetime has been the topic of a recent Topical Review [1], and it was the focus of a recent Special Issue [2]. It is surprising to me that radiation reaction is a subject that continues to be poorly covered in the standard textbooks, including Jackson's bible [3]. Exceptions are Rohrlich's excellent text [4], which makes a very useful introduction to radiation reaction, and the Landau and Lifshitz classic [5], which contains what is probably the most perfect summary of the foundational ideas (presented in characteristic terseness). It is therefore with some trepidation that I received Herbert Spohn's book, which covers both the classical and quantum theories of a charged particle coupled to its own field (the presentation is limited to flat spacetime). Is this the text that graduate students and researchers should turn to in order to get a complete and accessible education in radiation reaction? My answer is that while the book does indeed contain a lot of useful material, it is not a very accessible source of information, and it is certainly not a student-friendly textbook. Instead, the book presents a technical account of the author's personal take on the theory, and represents a culminating summary of the author's research contributions over more than a decade. The book is written in a fairly mathematical style (the author is Professor of Mathematical Physics at the Technische Universitat in Munich), and it very much emphasises mathematical rigour. This makes the book less accessible than I would wish it to be, but this is perhaps less a criticism than a statement about my taste, expectation, and attitude. The presentation of the classical theory begins with a point particle, but Spohn immediately smears the charge distribution to eliminate the vexing singularities of the retarded field. He considers both the nonrelativistic Abraham model (in which the extended particle is spherically symmetric in the laboratory frame) and the relativistic Lorentz model (in which the particle is spherical in its rest frame). In Spohn's work, the smearing of the charge distribution is entirely a mathematical procedure, and I would have wished for a more physical discussion. A physically extended body, held together against electrostatic repulsion by cohesive forces (sometimes called Poincar? stresses) would make a sound starting point for a classical theory of charged particles, and would have nicely (and physically) motivated the smearing operation adopted in the book. Spohn goes on to derive energy?momentum relations for the extended objects, and to obtain their equations of motion. A compelling aspect of his presentation is that he formally introduces the 'adiabatic limit', the idea that the external fields acting on the charged body should have length and time scales that are long compared with the particle's internal scales (respectively the electrostatic classical radius and its associated time scale). As a consequence, the equations of motion do not involve a differentiated acceleration vector (as is the case for the Abraham?Lorentz?Dirac equations) but are proper second-order differential equations for the position vector. In effect, the correct equations of motion are obtained from the Abraham?Lorentz?Dirac equations by a reduction-of-order procedure that was first proposed (as far as I know) by Landau and Lifshitz [5]. In Spohn's work this procedure is not {\it ad hoc}, but a natural consequence of the adiabatic approximation. An aspect of the classical portion of the book that got me particularly excited is Spohn's proposal for an experimental test of the predictions of the Landau?Lifshitz equations. His proposed experiment involves a Penning trap, a device that uses a uniform magnetic field and a quadrupole electric field to trap an electron for very long times. Without radiation reaction, the motion of an electron in the trap is an epicycle that consists of a rapid (and small) cyclotron orbit superposed onto a slow (and large) magnetron orbit. Spohn shows that according to the Landau?Lifshitz equations, the radiation reaction produces a damping of the cyclotron motion. For reasonable laboratory situations this damping occurs over a time scale of the order of 0.1 second. This experiment might well be within technological reach. The presentation of the quantum theory is based on the nonrelativistic Abraham model, which upon quantization leads to the well-known Pauli-Fierz Hamiltonian of nonrelativistic quantum electrodynamics. This theory, an approximation to the fully relativistic version of QED, has a wide domain of validity that includes many aspects of quantum optics and laser-matter interactions. As I am not an expert in this field, my ability to review this portion of Spohn's book is limited, and I will indeed restrict myself to a few remarks. I first admit that I found Spohn's presentation to be tough going. Unlike the pair of delightful books by Cohen-Tannoudji, Dupont-Roc, and Grynberg [6, 7], this is not a gentle introduction to the quantum theory of a charged particle coupled to its own electromagnetic field. Instead, Spohn proceeds rather quickly through the formulation of the theory (defining the Hamiltonian and the Hilbert space) and then presents some applications (for example, he constructs the ground states of the theory, he examines radiation processes, and he explores finite-temperature aspects). There is a lot of material in the eight chapters devoted to the quantum theory, but my insufficient preparation and the advanced nature of Spohn's presentation were significant obstacles; I was not able to draw much appreciation for this material. One of the most useful resources in Spohn's book are the historical notes and literature reviews that are inserted at the end of each chapter. I discovered a wealth of interesting articles by reading these, and I am grateful that the author made the effort to collect this information for the benefit of his readers.

The purpose of this paper is to give the complete classical theory of a spinning particle moving in a Maxwell field. The particle is assumed to be a point, and its interaction with the field is described by a point charge g 1 and a point dipole g 2 . The Maxwell equations are assumed to hold right up to the point representing the particle. Exact equations are then derived for the motion of the particle in a given external field which are strictly consistent with the conservation of energy, momentum and angular momentum, and hence contain the effects of radiation reaction on the motion of the particle. It is shown that in the presence of a point dipole the energy tensor of the field can and must be redefined so as to make the total energy finite. The mass, the angular momentum of the spin, and the moment of inertia perpendicular to the spin axis appear in the equations as arbitrary mechanical constants. Reasons are given for believing that for an elementary particle the last constant is zero, in agreement with relativistic quantum theory. In the general theory there is no relation between the electric and magnetic dipole moments of the particle and the state of its translational motion. A procedure is given for deriving from the general equations specialized equations consistent with the condition that the dipole is always a purely magnetic or electric one in the system in which the particle is instantaneously at rest. The radiation reaction terms are very much simpler in the former of these specialized cases than in the general case. The effect of radiation reaction is to make the scattering of light by a rotating dipole decrease inversely as the square of the frequency for high frequencies, just as for scattering by a point charge.

The field generated by a time‐harmonic pure irrotational current distributed in a finite region of free space is derived analytically. Only an electric field is produced and is nonzero even merely within the finite interior of the current distribution, though the problem space itself is infinite. To consider the obtained field solution nonphysical according to our current physical concepts, however, lacks evidence or reasoning. It satisfies the original first‐order Maxwell's equations (MEs) and the related continuity conditions exactly, hence cannot be rejected mathematically. It is also shown that a conceptual denial of such a different kind of solution based on physical interpretations of other known solutions of the same MEs is logically not acceptable. A direct experiment study is necessary to conclude convincingly whether or not the above solution is physical. The completeness problem of MEs and their consistency with the Lorentz force law and the equation of motion are discussed. Free space MEs are incomplete or underdetermined due to the absence of a curl equation for the current density. If the solution is nonphysical, ME‐based electromagnetic (EM) theory is not self‐consistent. On the other hand, if it is physical, this type of inconsistency within the frame of the ME‐based EM theory disappears, yet it is inconsistent with the Lorentz force law and the equation of motion in this case.

Various different classical models of electrons including their spin degree of freedom are commonly applied to describe the coupled dynamics of relativistic electron motion and spin precession in strong electromagnetic fields. The spin dynamics is usually governed by the Thomas-Bargmann-Michel-Telegdi equation [1, 2] in these models, while the electron’s orbital motion follows the (modified) Lorentz force and a spin-dependent Stern-Gerlach force. Various classical models can lead to different or even contradicting predictions how the spin degree of freedom modifies the electron’s orbital motion when the electron moves in strong electromagnetic fields. This discrepancy is rooted in the model-specific energy dependency of the spin induced relativistic Stern-Gerlach force acting on the electron. The Frenkel model [3, 4] and the classical Foldy-Wouthuysen model 5 are compared exemplarily against each other and against the quantum mechanical Dirac equation in order to identify parameter regimes where these classical models make different predictions [6, 7]. Our theoretical results allow for experimental tests of these models. In the setup of the longitudinal Stern-Gerlach effect, the Frenkel model and classical Foldy-Wouthuysen model lead in the relativistic limit to qualitatively different spin effects on the electron trajectory. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that in tightly focused beams in the near infrared the effect of the Stern-Gerlach force of the Frenkel model becomes sufficiently large to be potentially detectable in an experiment. Among the classical spin models, the Frenkel model is certainly prominent for its long history and its wide application. Our results, however, suggest that the classical Foldy-Wouthuysen model is superior as it is qualitatively in better agreement with the quantum mechanical Dirac equation. In ultra strong laser setups at parameter regimes where effects of the Stern-Gerlach force become relevant also radiation reaction effects are expected to set in. We incorporate radiation reaction classically via the Landau-Lifshitz equation and demonstrate that although radiation reaction effects can have a significant effect on the electron trajectory, the Frenkel model and the classical Foldy-Wouthuysen model remain distinguishable also if radiation reaction effects are taken into account. Our calculations are also suitable to verify the Landau-Lifshitz equation for the radiation reaction of electrons and other spin one-half particles. 1. Thomas, L. H., “I. The kinematics of an electron with an axis,” The London, Edinburgh, and Dublin Philosophical Magazine and Journal of Science 3(13), 1–22 (1927). 2. Bargmann, V., Michel, L., and Telegdi, V. L., “Precession of the polarization of particles moving in a homogeneous electromagnetic field,” Phys. Rev. Lett. 2(10), 435–436 (1959). 3. Frenkel, J., “Die Elektrodynamik des rotierenden Elektrons,” Z. Phys. 37(4–5), 243–262 (1926). 4. Frenkel, J., “Spinning electrons,” Nature (London) 117(2949), 653–654 (1926). 5. Silenko, A. J., “Foldy-Wouthyusen transformation and semiclassical limit for relativistic particles in strong external fields,” Phys. Rev. A 77(1), 012116 (2008). 6. Wen, M., Bauke, H., and Keitel, C. H., “Identifying the Stern-Gerlach force of classical electron dynamics,” Sci. Rep. 6, 31624 (2016). 7. Wen, M., Keitel, C. H., and Bauke, H., “Spin one-half particles in strong electromagnetic fields: spin effects and radiation reaction,” arXiv:1610.08951 (2016).

From the conditions of energy and momentum conservation it is shown that all four interaction coefficients of the elementary quadruple interactions discussed in Part I of this paper are equal. A further conservative quantity is then found which can be interpreted as the number density of the gravity-wave ensemble representing the random sea surface. The well-known analogy between a random linear wave field and a mass particle ensemble is found to hold also in the case of weak non-linear interactions in the wave field. The interaction conditions for energy transfer between waves to correspond to the equations of energy and momentum conservation for a particle collision, the final equation for the rate of change of the wave spectrum corresponding to Boltzmann's equation for the rate of change of the number density of an ensemble of colliding mass particles. The stationary wave spectrum corresponding to the Maxwell distribution for a mass particle ensemble is found to be degenerate. The question of the irreversibility of the transfer process for gravity waves is discussed but not completely resolved.

The energy conservation law and the flow reversal theorem are valid for underwater acoustic fields. In media at rest the theorem transforms into well-known reciprocity principle. The presented parabolic equation (PE) model strictly preserves these important physical properties in the numerical solution. The new PE is obtained from the one-way wave equation by Godin12 via Pade approximation of the square root operator and generalized to the case of moving media. The PE is range-dependent and explicitly includes range derivatives of the medium parameters. Implicit finite difference scheme solves the PE written in terms of energy flux. Such formalism inherently provides simple and exact energy-conserving boundary condition at vertical interfaces. The finite-difference operators, the discreet boundary conditions, and the self-starter are derived by discretization of the differential PE. Discreet energy conservation and flow reversal theorem are rigorously proved as mathematical properties of the finite-difference scheme and confirmed by numerical modeling. Numerical solution is shown to be reciprocal with accuracy of 10–12 decimal digits, which is the accuracy of round-off errors. Energy conservation and wide-angle capabilities of the model are illustrated by comparison with two-way normal mode solutions including the ASA benchmark wedge.

In this work, we develop a general perturbative procedure to determine the off-equatorial plane deflections in the weak deflection limit in general stationary and axisymmetric spacetimes, enabling the existence of the generalized Carter constant. Deflections of both null and timelike rays, with the finite distance effect of the source and detector considered, are obtained as dual series of and . These deflections enable a set of exact gravitational lensing equations from which the apparent angular positions of the images are solved. The method and general results are then applied to the Kerr-Newmann, Kerr-Sen, and rotating Simpson-Visser spacetimes to study the effect of the spin and characteristic (effective) charge of the spacetimes and the source altitude on the deflection angles and image apparent angles. We find that, generally, both the spacetime spin and charge affect only the deflections from the second non-trivial order, whereas the source altitude influences the deflection from the leading order. Because of this, measuring the effects of the spacetime spin and charge from the apparent locations of the images in gravitational lensing in realistic scenarios is difficult. We also present the off-equatorial deflections in the rotating Bardeen, Hayward, Ghosh, and Tinchev black hole spacetimes.

Stability and Super Convergence Analysis of ADI-FDTD for the 2D Maxwell Equations in a Lossy Medium

An exact time-dependent multipole analysis of macroscopic electromagnetic fields is given for sources which may not have Fourier transforms, e.g., they may spread out indefinitely in the course of time or have nonzero limits in the remote past or future. The multipole fields are determined by charge and energy conservation and the homogeneous Maxwell's equations for vacuum fields, without the use of the inhomogeneous Maxwell's equations or constitutive equations for the source material. The moments at each time are integrals of sources over the region spacelike to the space origin at this time. Since neither spherical Bessel functions nor associated Legendre polynomials are used, only rational functions are needed in this analysis. The problem of relating vector sources and fields is simplified by transforming it to an exactly equivalent scalar one.

The conservation of energy, linear momentum, and angular momentum of the electromagnetic field in linear dielectric media with arbitrary dispersion and absorption is studied in the framework of an auxiliary field approach in which the electric and magnetic fields are complemented by a material field. This material field depends on a continuous variable omega, and describes harmonic motions of the charges with eigen frequency omega. It carries an electric dipole moment and couples as such to the electric field. The equations of motion of the model are equivalent to Maxwell's equations in an arbitrary dispersive and absorbing dielectric and imply that several quantities are conserved. These quantities may be interpreted as the energy, momentum, and angular momentum of the total system, and can be viewed as the sum of the corresponding quantities of the field and matter subsystems. The total momentum turns out to be equal to the Minkowski momentum plus a dispersive contribution. The total energy and total momentum of a wave packet both travel with the group velocity, while the ratio of total momentum and total energy is given by the phase velocity.

We present examples of simple electromagnetic systems in which energy, linear momentum, and angular momentum exhibit interesting behavior. The systems are sufficiently simple to allow exact solutions of Maxwell's equations in conjunction with the electrodynamic laws of force, torque, energy, and momentum. In all the cases examined, conservation of energy and momentum is confirmed.

Integrating physical and virtual environments to conserve energy in buildings

The motion of a sufficiently small body in general relativity should be accurately described by a geodesic. However, there should be “gravitational self-force” corrections to geodesic motion, analogous to the “radiation reaction forces” that occur in electrodynamics. It is of considerable importance to be able to calculate these self-force corrections in order to be able to determine such effects as inspiral motion in the extreme mass ratio limit. However, severe difficulties arise if one attempts to consider point particles in the context of general relativity. This article describes these difficulties and how they have been dealt with.

The symmetries of stationary axisymmetric empty spacetimes are investigated using the null tetrad notation of Newman and Penrose. An empty space-time of Petrov type II admitting a nontrivial symmetry is exhibited, thus contradicting a general result of Bialas and Bialas based on work by Petrov.

Two approaches exist to account for granular behavior. The thermal one considers the total entropy, which includes microscopic degrees of freedom such as phonons; the athermal one (as with the Edward entropy) takes grains as elementary. Granular solid hydrodynamics (GSH) belongs to the first, DEM, granular kinetic theory and athermal statistical mechanics (ASM) to the second. A careful discussion of their conceptual differences is given here. Three noteworthy insights or results are: (1) While DEM and granular kinetic theory are well justified to take grains as elementary, any athermal entropic consideration is bound to run into trouble. (2) Many general principles are taken as invalid in granular media. Yet within the thermal approach, energy conservation and fluctuation-dissipation theorem remain valid, granular temperatures equilibrate, and phase space is well explored in a grain at rest. Hence these are abnormalities of the athermal approximation, not of granular media as such. (3) GSH is a wide-ranged continuum mechanical description of granular dynamics.