Testing radiation reaction by simple charge distributions

Abstract

A point charge is frequently approximated by various charge distributions deriving the Lorentz-Abraham-Dirac (LAD) equation. Here a rigid spherical shell is treated from this point of view. This particular continuum model is excellent to investigate whether some hidden expectations are true or not. It is shown here that the field of a uniformly charged rigid spherical shell cannot be substituted by the field of a central point charge. The related calculations are short and transparent due to a reference frame free representation of spacetime and the mathematical theory of generalised functions. %Here it is shown that the field of a uniformly charged rigid spherical shell cannot be substituted by the field of a central effective point charge. The related calculations are short and transparent due to a reference frame free representation of spacetime and the mathematical theory of generalised functions.