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SPRINGER Uniformly Accelerating Charged Particles A Threat To The Equivalence Principle 2008 Edition by LYLE,STEPHEN
Back in1954,a paper[2] by Bondi and Gold was to pick upona much olderqu- tion and raise anew one that would trigger another longdebate. The old question hadbeenaroundsince the beginning of the twentiethcentury, whenBorn?rstraised it[1] and others followed suit. This was the question of whethera uniformly acc- erated charge (in?at spacetime) would radiateelectromagnetic energy. The new question arose from the claim by Bondi and Gold that (inthe contextof general relativity now)a static charge ina static gravitational ?eld cannot radiateenergy. If this were the case,thenaparticular version of the equivalence principle would thereby be contradicted. This book reviews the problem discovered by Bondi and Gold and discusses the ensuingdebate ascarried on by Fulton and Rohrlich [3], DeWitt and Brehme [4], Mould [5], Boulware [6], andParrott [7].Various solutionshave been proposed by the above (and otherswhoare not discussed here). One of the aims here will be to putforward arather different solution to Bondi and Gold's radiation problem.So eventhough the paperscited are discussed to a large extent in chronological order, the reason for writing this is not justto produce an historical reference. Andeven though the version of general relativity applied hereis entirely consensual, every one of these papersis criticised on at leastoneimportant count, soI suspectthat the resultas a whole should not be described asconsensual. A Doubt about the Equivalence Principle.- From Minkowski Spacetime to General Relativity.- Gravity as a Force in Special Relativity.- Applying the Strong Equivalence Principle.- The Debate Continues.- A More Detailed Radiation Calculation.- Defining the Radiation from a Uniformly Accelerating Charge.- Energy Conservation for a Uniformly Accelerated Charge.- The Threat to the Equivalence Principle According to Fulton and Rohrlich.- Different Predictions of Special Relativity and General Relativity.- Derivation of the Lorentz-Dirac Equation.- Extending the Lorentz-Dirac Equation to Curved Spacetime.- Static Charge in a Static Spacetime.- A Radiation Detector.- The Definitive Mathematical Analysis.- Interpretation of Physical Quantities in General Relativity.- Charged Rocket.- Summary.- Conclusion.