General relativistic models for the electron

TL;DR

This paper proposes a classical model of the electron using modified general relativistic solutions, suggesting spacetime curvature near the charge reduces electromagnetic self-energy through vacuum polarization effects.

Contribution

It introduces modifications to Reissner-Nordström and Kerr-Newman solutions to model the electron as a point charge with finite self-energy in a curved spacetime context.

Findings

Modified solutions suggest finite electromagnetic self-energy for the electron.

Spacetime curvature near the charge influences electric and magnetic fields.

Vacuum polarization near the charge may reduce self-energy to a finite value.

Abstract

A model is proposed for the classical electron as a point charge with finite electromagnetic self-energy. Modifications of the Reissner-Nordstr{\o}m (spin 0) and Kerr-Newman (spin 1/2) solutions of the Einstein-Maxwell equations are derived. It is conjectured that spacetime curvature very close to the point charge deforms the electric and magnetic fields such as to reduce the self-energy to a finite value by means of Hawking polarization of the vacuum, much like that around a black hole.