Point Charges in Classical Electrodynamics

Jonathan Baxter

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arXiv · 2512.18802

Point Charges in Classical Electrodynamics

Jonathan Baxter

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Abstract

LaTeX transcription (2025) of a 1989 honours thesis (University of Adelaide) on point charges in classical electrodynamics and the Lorentz-Dirac radiation-reaction equation. The thesis reviews the retarded field of an arbitrarily moving charge, energy-momentum conservation, and derives the Lorentz-Dirac equation via momentum balance. It discusses self-interaction and mass renormalization, and presents world-line self-field definitions including retarded averaging and an analytic continuation approach. Appendices include Mathematica listings used to obtain near-world-line expansions of the field and related quantities.

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Jonathan Baxter. 2025-12-21. Point Charges in Classical Electrodynamics. https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.18802

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