Bursts of Radiation and Recoil Effects in Electromagnetism and Gravitation
arXiv:gr-qc/0012024 · doi:10.1088/0264-9381/17/22/308
Abstract
The Maxwell field of a charge e which experiences an impulsive acceleration or deceleration is constructed explicitly by subdividing Minkowskian space-time into two halves bounded by a future null-cone and then glueing the halves back together with appropriate matching conditions. The resulting retarded radiation can be viewed as instantaneous electromagnetic bremsstrahlung. If we similarly consider a spherically symmetric, moving gravitating mass, to experience an impulsive deceleration, as viewed by a distant observer, then this is accompanied by the emission of a light-like shell whose total energy measured by this observer is the same as the kinetic energy of the source before it stops. This phenomenon is a recoil effect which may be thought of as a limiting case of a Kinnersley rocket.
24 pages LaTeX2e, 2 figures (included). Published in Class. Quant. Gravity