The critical manifold of the Lorentz-Dirac equation

Zentrum Mathematik and Physik Department TU München, D-80290 München, Germany

Corresponding author: spohn@mathematik.tu-muenchen.de

Received: 17 November 1999
Accepted: 11 February 2000

Abstract

We investigate the solutions to the Lorentz-Dirac equation and show that its solution flow has a structure identical to the one of renormalization group flows in critical phenomena. The physical solutions of the Lorentz-Dirac equation lie on the critical surface. The critical surface is repelling, i.e. any slight deviation from it is amplified and as a result the solution runs away to infinity. On the other hand, Dirac's asymptotic condition (acceleration vanishes for long times) forces the solution to be on the critical manifold. The critical surface can be determined perturbatively. Thereby one obtains an effective second-order equation, which we apply to various cases, in particular to the motion of an electron in a Penning trap.