MG15 - Talk detail

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Abstract

In classical electrodynamics, the self-force of a charged particle on itself is undefined, leading to a major inconsistency. One suggested way out is to consider the field equations of higher-order electrodynamics as proposed by Bopp, Lande, Thomas and Podolsky. This theory modifies the Maxwell Lagrangian by adding terms containing higher-order derivatives of the field tensor. A recent result by M. Kiessling and A. S. Tahvildar-Zadeh shows indeed that the Cauchy problem with fields and charged particles is locally well-posed in BLTP electrodynamics. The key realization is to define the self-forces via overall momentum conservation of the system consisting of charged particles and fields. Inspired by this result, I look at the self-force problem for a single particle interacting with the BLTP field in flat spacetime. Starting from the postulate of momentum conservation, I show rigorously that a covariant expression for self-force can be derived from the postulate of momentum conservation. The self-force coincides with an expression previously given by J. Gratus, V. Perlick and R. Tucker who used an additional averaging procedure.

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