Falling charge in a gravitational field and radiation reaction

TL;DR

This paper explores how a charged particle behaves in a gravitational field and how it radiates energy, with implications for understanding space-time structure through quantum effects.

Contribution

A concise and novel derivation of the Lorentz–Dirac equation and its extension to gravitational fields.

Findings

The Lorentz–Dirac equation is derived in flat Minkowski spacetime.

An equation of motion is obtained for an electron moving in a gravitational field.

The study suggests potential experiments to explore space-time structure via quantum effects.

Abstract

The Lorentz–Dirac equation is formulated and studied in flat Minkowski spacetime. A concise, novel derivation of the equation is presented. The problem is then enlarged to study radiation damping of an electron moving through a gravitational field. The equation of motion is obtained for this case as well. It is suggested the study of the problem might motivate experiments which could shed light on the recent work related to the emergence of space-time and its structure by means of quantum effects such as quantum entanglement.