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arXiv · 2501.13176

Self-force and the Schwarzschild star

Abhinove N. Seenivasan·Sam R. Dolan
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Abstract

We consider the self-force acting on a pointlike (electromagnetic or conformal-scalar) charge held fixed on a spacetime with a spherically-symmetric mass distribution of constant density (the Schwarzschild star). The Schwarzschild interior is shown to be conformal to a three-sphere geometry; we use this conformal symmetry to obtain closed-form expressions for mode solutions. We calculate the self-force with two complementary regularization methods, direct and difference regularization, showing agreement. For the first time, we show that difference regularization can be applied in the non-vacuum interior region, due to the vanishing of certain regularized mode sums. The new results for the self-force come in three forms: series expansions for the self-force near the centre of the star and in the far field; a new approximation that describes the divergence in the self-force near the star's boundary; and numerical data presented in a selection of plots. We conclude with a discussion of the logarithmic divergence in the self-force in the approach to the star's surface, and the effect of boundaries.

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Abhinove N. Seenivasan, Sam R. Dolan. 2025-01-22. Self-force and the Schwarzschild star. https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6382/adfe4f

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