Classical Charged Particles

Originally written in 1964, this famous text is a study of the classical theory of charged particles. Many applications treat electrons as point particles. At the same time, there is a widespread belief that the theory of point particles is beset with various difficulties such as an infinite electrostatic self-energy, a rather doubtful equation of motion which admits physically meaningless solutions, violation of causality and others. The classical theory of charged particles has been largely ignored and has been left in an incomplete state since the discovery of quantum mechanics. Despite the great efforts of men such as Lorentz, Abraham, Poincar‚, and Dirac, it is usually regarded as a ?lost cause?. But thanks to progress made just a few years ago, the author is able to resolve the various problems and to complete this unfinished theory successfully.

Widely-discussed in the theory of classical point charges are the difficulties of divergent self-energy, self-accelerating solutions, and pre-acceleration. This book explains the theory in the context of quantum electrodynamics, the neutral particle limit, and coherence with neighboring theories.

Comprehensive graduate-level text by a distinguished theoretical physicist reveals the classical underpinnings of modern quantum field theory. Topics include space-time, Lorentz transformations, conservation laws, equations of motion, Green’s functions, and more. 1964 edition.

This book provides a self-contained and systematic introduction to classical electron theory and its quantization, non-relativistic quantum electrodynamics. The first half of the book covers the classical theory. It discusses the well-defined Abraham model of extended charges in interaction with the electromagnetic field, and gives a study of the effective dynamics of charges under the condition that, on the scale given by the size of the charge distribution, they are far apart and the applied potentials vary slowly. The second half covers the quantum theory, leading to a coherent presentation of non-relativistic quantum electrodynamics. Topics discussed include non-perturbative properties of the basic Hamiltonian, the structure of resonances, the relaxation to the ground state through emission of photons, the non-perturbative derivation of the g-factor of the electron and the stability of matter.

A charged particle is a particle that carries an electric charge and can be discussed in many aspects. This book focuses on cutting-edge and important research topics such as flavor physics to search for new physics via charged particles that appear in different extensions of the standard model, as well as the analysis of ultra-high energy muons using the pair-meter technique. Also included in this book are the idea of the Eloisatron to PeVatron, the important research field of electrostatic waves in magnetized electron/positron plasmas, and the application of charge bodies.