Self-force on a charged particle in an external scalar field

Abstract

A charged particle subject to strong external forces will accelerate, and so radiate energy, inducing a self-force. This phenomenon remains contentious, but advances in laser technology mean we will soon encounter regimes where a more complete understanding is essential. The terms "self-force" and "radiation reaction" are often used synonymously, but reflect different aspects of the recoil force. For a particle accelerating in an electromagnetic field, radiation reaction is usually the dominant self-force, but in a scalar field this is not the case, and the total effect of the self-force can be anti-frictional. Aspects of this self-force can be recast in terms of spacetime geometry, and this interpretation illuminates the long-standing enigma of a particle radiating while experiencing no self-force.

To appear in New Journal of Physics

References in corpus (3)

• Effects of Radiation-Reaction in Relativistic Laser Acceleration
• Aspects of electromagnetic radiation reaction in strong fields
• Radiation reaction and the acceleration-dependent mass increase of a charged sphere undergoing uniform acceleration