A formalism is described that greatly simplifies the derivation of scalar, electromagnetic, and gravitational self-forces and self-torques acting on extended bodies in curved spacetimes. Commonly-studied aspects of these effects are normally dominated by the so-called "regular" component of a body's self-field. The only consequence of the remaining (much larger) portion of the self-field turns out to be very simple. It exerts forces and torques that effectively renormalize all multipole moments of the body's stress-energy tensor in its laws of motion.
展开▼
