Second order equation of motion for electromagnetic radiation back-reaction

Abstract

We take the viewpoint that the physically acceptable solutions of the Lorentz--Dirac equation for radiation back-reaction are actually determined by a second order equation of motion, the self-force being given as a function of spacetime location and velocity. We propose three different methods to obtain this self-force function. For two example systems, we determine the second order equation of motion exactly in the nonrelativistic regime via each of these three methods, the three methods leading to the same result. We reveal that, for both systems considered, back-reaction induces a damping proportional to velocity and, in addition, it decreases the effect of the external force.