Self-force from conical singularity, without renormalization

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel method to compute the self-force on charged particles in curved spacetime using conical singularities, avoiding traditional renormalization procedures, and applies it to various scenarios including black holes and naked singularities.

Contribution

The paper presents a new approach to self-force calculation that leverages conical singularities and string tension, eliminating the need for field renormalization.

Findings

Recovered the classic Smith-Will force in Schwarzschild spacetime.

Corrected previous expressions for dipole self-force in Schwarzschild spacetime.

Generalized no-force result for scalar charges and dipoles.

Abstract

We develop an approach to calculate the self-force on a charged particle held in place in a curved spacetime, in which the particle is attached to a massless string and the force is measured by the string's tension. The calculation is based on the Weyl class of static and axially symmetric spacetimes, and the presence of the string is manifested by a conical singularity; the tension is proportional to the angular deficit. A remarkable and appealing aspect of this approach is that the calculation of the self-force requires no renormalization of the particle's field. This is in contract with traditional methods, which incorporate a careful and elaborate subtraction of the singular part of the field. We implement the approach in a number of different situations. First, we examine the case of an electric charge in Schwarzschild spacetime, and recover the classic Smith-Will force in addition to a purely gravitational contribution to the self-force. Second, we turn to the case of electric and magnetic dipoles in Schwarzschild spacetime, and correct expressions for the self-force previously obtained in the literature. Third, we replace the electric charge by a scalar charge, and recover Wiseman's no-force result, which we generalize to a scalar dipole. And fourth, we calculate the force exerted on extended bodies such as Schwarzschild black holes and Janis-Newman-Winicour objects, which describe scalarized naked singularities.