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Classical electrodynamics with vacuum polarization: electron self-energy and radiation reaction

S. M. Blinder
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Abstract

The region very close to an electron ($r << r_0 = e^2/mc^2 \approx 2.8\times 10^{-13}$ cm) is, according to quantum electrodynamics, a seething maelstrom of virtual electron-positron pairs flashing in and out of existence. To take account of this well-established physical reality, a phenomenological representation for vacuum polarization is introduced into the framework of classical electrodynamics. Such a model enables a consistent picture of classical point charges with finite electromagnetic self-energy. It is further conjectured that the reaction of a point charge to its own electromagnetic field is tantamount to interaction with its vacuum polarization charge or "aura". This leads to a modification of the Lorentz-Dirac equation for the force on an accelerating electron, a new differential-difference equation which avoids the pathologies of preacceleration and runaway solutions.

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S. M. Blinder. 2001-05-23. Classical electrodynamics with vacuum polarization: electron self-energy and radiation reaction. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0034-4877(01)80042-2

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