Uniformly Accelerating Charged Particles: A Threat to the Equivalence Principle

ISBN-13: 9783642088025 / Angielski / Miękka / 2010 / 361 str.

Stephen Lyle

Opis

Back in1954, a paper 2] by Bondi and Gold was to pick upona much olderqu- tion and raise anew one that would trigger another longdebate. The old question hadbeenaroundsince the beginning of the twentiethcentury, whenBorn?rstraised it 1] and others followed suit. This was the question of whethera uniformly acc- erated charge (in?at spacetime) would radiateelectromagnetic energy. The new question arose from the claim by Bondi and Gold that (inthe contextof general relativity now)a static charge ina static gravitational ?eld cannot radiateenergy. If this were the case, thenaparticular version of the equivalence principle would thereby be contradicted. This book reviews the problem discovered by Bondi and Gold and discusses the ensuingdebate ascarried on by Fulton and Rohrlich 3], DeWitt and Brehme 4], Mould 5], Boulware 6], andParrott 7].Various solutionshave been proposed by the above (and otherswhoare not discussed here). One of the aims here will be to putforward arather different solution to Bondi and Gold s radiation problem. So eventhough the paperscited are discussed to a large extent in chronological order, the reason for writing this is not justto produce an historical reference. Andeven though the version of general relativity applied hereis entirely consensual, every one of these papersis criticised on at leastoneimportant count, soI suspectthat the resultas a whole should not be described asconsensual."

Spis treści

A Doubt about the Equivalence Principle.- From Minkowski Spacetime to General Relativity.- Gravity as a Force in Special Relativity.- Applying the Strong Equivalence Principle.- The Debate Continues.- A More Detailed Radiation Calculation.- Defining the Radiation from a Uniformly Accelerating Charge.- Energy Conservation for a Uniformly Accelerated Charge.- The Threat to the Equivalence Principle According to Fulton and Rohrlich.- Different Predictions of Special Relativity and General Relativity.- Derivation of the Lorentz–Dirac Equation.- Extending the Lorentz–Dirac Equation to Curved Spacetime.- Static Charge in a Static Spacetime.- A Radiation Detector.- The Definitive Mathematical Analysis.- Interpretation of Physical Quantities in General Relativity.- Charged Rocket.- Summary.- Conclusion.

O autorze

www.stephenlyle.org

Blurb

There has been a long debate about whether uniformly accelerated charges should radiate electromagnetic energy and how one should describe their worldline through a flat spacetime, i.e., whether the Lorentz-Dirac equation is right. There are related questions in curved spacetimes, e.g., do different varieties of equivalence principle apply to charged particles, and can a static charge in a static spacetime radiate electromagnetic energy? The problems with the LD equation in flat spacetime are spelt out in some detail here, and its extension to curved spacetime is discussed. Different equivalence principles are compared and some vindicated. The key papers are discussed in detail and many of their conclusions are significantly revised by the present solution.