Abstract
We argue that purely local experiments can distinguish a stationary charged particle in a static gravitational field from an accelerated particle in (gravity-free) Minkowski space. Some common arguments to the contrary are analyzed and found to rest on a misidentification of “energy.”
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
REFERENCES
W. B. Bonnor, “A new equation of motion for a radiating charged particle,” Proc. Roy. Soc. London A 337, 591–598 (1974).
D. Boulware, “Radiation from a uniformly accelerated charge,” Ann. Phys. (New York) 124, 169–187 (1980).
B. DeWitt and R. Brehme, “Radiation damping in a gravitational field,” Ann. Phys. (New York) 9, 220–259 (1960).
P. A. M. Dirac, “Classical theories of radiating electrons,” Proc. Roy. Soc. London A 167, 148 ff. (1938).
S. Parrott, Relativistic Electrodynamics and Differential Geometry (Springer, New York, 1987).
S. Parrott, “Unphysical and physical(?) solutions of the Lorentz–Dirac equation,” Found. Phys. 23, 1093–1121 (1993).
S. Parrott, “Radiation from a particle uniformly accelerated for all time,” Gen. Relat. Gravit. 27, 1463–1472 (1995), gr-qc/9711027.
A. K. Singal, “The equivalence principle and an electric charge in a gravitational field,” Gen. Relat. Gravit. 27, 953–967 (1995).
A. K. Singal, “The Equivalence Principle and an Electric Charge in a Gravitational Field II. A Uniformly Accelerated Charge Does Not Radiate,” Gen. Relat. Gravit. 27, 1371–1390 (1997).
J. D. Jackson, Classical Electrodynamics, 2nd edn. (Wiley, New York, 1975).
R. Peierls, Surprises in Theoretical Physics (Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ, 1979).
R. Sachs and H. Wu, General Relativity for Mathematicians (Springer, New York, 1977).
W. Rindler, Essential Relativity, 2nd edn. (Springer, New York, 1977).
J. M. Hobbs, “A vierbein formalism of radiation damping,” Ann. Phys. 47, 141–165 (1968).
T. Fulton and F. Rohrlich, “Classical radiation from a uniformly accelerated charge,” Ann. Phys. (New York) 9, 499–517 (1960).
C. J. Eliezer, “The hydrogen atom and the classical theory of radiation,” Proc. Camb. Phil. Soc. 39, 173 ff (1943).
S. F. Gull, “Charged particles at potential steps,” in The Electron: New theory and experiment, D. Hestenes and A. Weingartshofer, eds. (Kluwer Academic, Dordrecht, 1991).
A. Kovetz and G. Tauber, “Radiation from an accelerated charge and the principle of equivalence,” Amer. J. Phys. 37, 382–385 (1969).
E. Taylor and J. Wheeler, Spacetime Physics (Freeman, New York, 1966), pp. 141–143.
F. G. Friedlander, The Wave Equation on Curved Spacetime (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1976).
A. Shariati and M. Khorrami, “Equivalence Principle and Radiation by a Uniformly Accelerated Charge,” Found. Phys. Lett. 12, 427–439 (1999).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Parrott, S. Radiation from a Uniformly Accelerated Charge and the Equivalence Principle. Foundations of Physics 32, 407–440 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1014861329235
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1014861329235