arXiv · hep-th/0112110
Radiation reaction in various dimensions
Abstract
We discuss the radiation reaction problem for an electric charge moving in flat space-time of arbitrary dimensions. It is shown that four is the unique dimension where a local differential equation exists accounting for the radiation reaction and admitting a consistent mass-renormalization (the Dirac-Lorentz equation). In odd dimensions the Huygens principle does not hold; as a result, the radiation reaction force depends on the whole past history of a charge (radiative tail). We show that the divergence in the tail integral can be removed by the mass renormalization only in the 2+1 theory. In even dimensions higher than four, divergences can not be removed by a renormalization.
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D. V. Gal'tsov. 2001-12-12. Radiation reaction in various dimensions. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevd.66.025016
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