Kinetic theory of radiation reaction

Noble, Adam and Jaroszynski, Dino and Gratus, Jonathan and Burton, David; Wyborn, Brian, ed. (2011) Kinetic theory of radiation reaction. In: Central Laser Facility Annual Report 2010-2011. Central Laser Facility, p. 28. ISBN 978-0-9556616-7-9

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Abstract

The development of ultra-high intensity laser facilities requires a detailed understanding of how accelerating charged particles interact with their own radiation fields. The Abraham-Lorentz-Dirac (ALD) equation - the standard description of radiation reaction - is beset with difficulties, but when handled with care can provide useful information. A kinetic theory has been developed, based on the exact ALD equation. Although the unphysical solutions of the ALD equation obstruct the reduction of this theory to the usual Vlasov-Maxwell system in the appropriate limit, its moments give rise to a fluid theory which does have the correct limiting behaviour. As a simple illustration of the theory, the radiative damping of Langmuir waves gives rise to a modified dispersion relation. A new unphysical instability is found, originating from the runaway solutions of the ALD equation, which must be rejected, leaving the physical solutions which display the correct slow damping.

ORCID iDs

Noble, Adam ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8181-7076, Jaroszynski, Dino ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3006-5492, Gratus, Jonathan and Burton, David; Wyborn, Brian
CORE (COnnecting REpositories)