Unsolved Mystery: Accelerating Charges & Radiation Reaction Force

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SUMMARY

The discussion centers on the paradox of radiation reaction force in the context of accelerating charges, specifically addressing the discrepancy between the energy radiated by uniformly accelerating charges and the work done by the radiation reaction force. It is established that while any accelerating charge radiates, the radiation reaction force, which depends on the third derivative of position, vanishes for constant acceleration. The referenced paper highlights this as an unsolved problem in physics, particularly noting that the triple derivative result applies only to specific cases, excluding uniform acceleration.

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  • Understanding of classical electrodynamics
  • Familiarity with the concepts of radiation reaction force
  • Knowledge of derivatives in physics, particularly the third derivative
  • Basic comprehension of energy conservation in electromagnetic systems
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  • Read the paper on radiation reaction forces at the provided link
  • Investigate the implications of the Larmor formula in radiation theory
  • Explore the concept of non-uniform acceleration and its effects on radiation
  • Study advanced topics in classical electrodynamics, focusing on the implications of the third derivative of position
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Physicists, researchers in classical electrodynamics, and students seeking to understand the complexities of radiation reaction forces and their implications in theoretical physics.

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It is often stated that ANY accelerating charge radiates, so this includes uniformly accelerating charges. But the radiation reaction force is proportional to the THIRD derivative of x, so it vanishes when acceleration is constant. What's the deal here?

Here's a graph which supposedly shows that the energy carried away by radiation (which is proportional to acceleration squared) is different than the work done by the radiation reaction force (which is proportional to velocity times the THIRD derivative of x). What's the deal with all of this?

http://physics.fullerton.edu/~jimw/general/radreact/radfig2.gif


And here's the full paper where this graph came from:

http://physics.fullerton.edu/~jimw/general/radreact/"


It seems the paper states that this is some kind of an unsolved problem or something. Is any of this true?
 
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"It seems the paper states that this is some kind of an unsolved problem or something. Is any of this true?"

I'm not going to read the paper, but it is still an unsolved problem.
The x triple dot result is only for some special cases, not including uniform acceleration.
 

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