The electromagnetic self-force on a charged spherical body slowly undergoing a small, temporary displacement from a position of rest

TL;DR

This paper analytically evaluates the electromagnetic self-force on a charged rigid sphere undergoing slow, small, temporary displacements, providing insights relevant to foundational questions about field measurability.

Contribution

It offers a new analytical calculation of the self-force for a charged sphere under specific slow and small displacements, addressing a key aspect of classical electrodynamics.

Findings

Derived explicit expression for self-force during displacement

Clarified the role of self-force in field measurability debates

Contributed to the Bohr-Rosenfeld analysis of electromagnetic measurement

Abstract

The self-force of classical electrodynamics on a charged "rigid" body of radius R is evaluated analytically for the body undergoing a slow (i.e., with a speed v<<c), slight (i.e., small compared to R), and temporary displacement from an initial position of rest. The results are relevant to the Bohr-Rosenfeld analysis of the measurability of the electromagnetic field, which has been the subject of a recent controversy.