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Classical and Quantum Radiation Reaction for Linear Acceleration

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Abstract

We investigate the effect of radiation reaction on the motion of a wave packet of a charged scalar particle linearly accelerated in quantum electrodynamics (QED). We give the details of the calculations for the case where the particle is accelerated by a static potential that were outlined in Higuchi and Martin Phys. Rev. D 70 (2004) 081701(R) and present similar results in the case of a time-dependent but space-independent potential. In particular, we calculate the expectation value of the position of the charged particle after the acceleration, to first-order in the fine structure constant in the ℏ→ 0 limit, and find that the change in the expectation value of the position (the position shift) due to radiation reaction agrees exactly with the result obtained using the Lorentz-Dirac force in classical electrodynamics for both potentials.

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Correspondence to Atsushi Higuchi.

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Higuchi, A., Martin, G.D.R. Classical and Quantum Radiation Reaction for Linear Acceleration. Found Phys 35, 1149–1179 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10701-005-6405-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10701-005-6405-0

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