Radiation-Reaction Force on a Small Charged Body to Second Order

Abstract

In classical electrodynamics, an accelerating charged body emits radiation and experiences a corresponding radiation-reaction force, or self force. We extend to higher order in the total charge a previous rigorous derivation of the electromagnetic self force in flat spacetime by Gralla, Harte, and Wald. The method introduced by Gralla, Harte, and Wald computes the self force from the Maxwell field equations and conservation of stress-energy in a limit where the charge, size, and mass of the body go to zero, and does not require regularization of a singular self field. For our higher order computation, an adjustment of the definition of the mass of the body is necessary to avoid including self energy from the electromagnetic field sourced by the body in the distant past. We derive the evolution equations for the mass, spin, and center-of-mass position of the body through second order. We derive, for the first time, the second-order acceleration dependence of the evolution of the spin (self torque), as well as a mixing between the extended body effects and the acceleration dependent effects on the overall body motion.