A simple calculation of the rate of emission of energy and of linear and angular momentum by a paint charge in arbitrary motion

摘要

We calculate directly the rates of emission of energy and linear momentum by a point charge in arbitrary motion using mathematical results that render the calculation of solid-angle integrals very simple. We show that the results of these explicit calculations agree with those based on covariance, illustrating how deeply special relativity is rooted in classical electrodynamics. Then, we use these covariance arguments to calculate the emission of angular momentum, which is a new result. We also indicate how this calculation can be done in the direct, but much longer, way. (C) 1999 American Association of Physics Teachers. [References: 5]