Equations of Motion from Field Equations and a Gauge-invariant Variational Principle for the Motion of Charged Particles

A novel method to make Lagrangians Galilean invariant is developed. The method, based on null Lagrangians and their gauge functions, is used to demonstrate the Galilean invariance of the Lagrangian for Newton's law of inertia. It is suggested that this new solution of an old physics problem may have implications and potential applications to all gauge-based theories of physics.

During the past century, there has been considerable discussion and analysis of the motion of a point charge, taking into account "self-force" effects due to the particle's own electromagnetic field. We analyze the issue of "particle motion" in classical electromagnetism in a rigorous and systematic way by considering a one-parameter family of solutions to the coupled Maxwell and matter equations corresponding to having a body whose charge-current density $J^a(\lambda)$ and s...

In relativistic mechanics the energy-momentum of a free point mass moving without acceleration forms a four-vector. Einstein's celebrated energy-mass relation E=mc^2 is commonly derived from that fact. By contrast, in Newtonian mechanics the mass is introduced for an accelerated motion as a measure of inertia. In this paper we rigorously derive the relativistic point mechanics and Einstein's energy-mass relation using our recently introduced neoclassical field theory where a ...

In this review paper we give a geometrical formulation of the field equations in the Lagrangian and Hamiltonian formalisms of classical field theories (of first order) in terms of multivector fields. This formulation enables us to discuss the existence and non-uniqueness of solutions, as well as their integrability.

It is widely accepted that conservation laws, especially energy-momentum conservation, have fundamental importance for both classical and quantum systems in physics. A widely used method to derive the conservation laws is based on Noether's theorem. However, for classical relativistic particle-field systems, this process is still impeded. Different from the quantum situation, the obstruction emerged when we regard the particle's field as a classical world line. The difficulti...

One approach for formulating the classical dynamics of charged particles in non-Abelian gauge theories is due to Wong. Following Wong's approach, we derive the classical equations of motion of a charged particle in U(1) gauge theory on noncommutative space, the so-called noncommutative QED. In the present use of the procedure, it is observed that the definition of mechanical momenta should be modified. The derived equations of motion manifest the previous statement about the ...

This is the first paper of a five part work in which we study the Lagrangian and Hamiltonian structure of classical field theories with constraints. Our goal is to explore some of the connections between initial value constraints and gauge transformations in such theories (either relativistic or not). To do this, in the course of these four papers, we develop and use a number of tools from symplectic and multisymplectic geometry. Of central importance in our analysis is the n...

A general Hamiltonian theory for the adiabatic motion of relativistic charged particles confined by slowly-varying background electromagnetic fields is presented based on a unified Lie-transform perturbation analysis in extended phase space (which includes energy and time as independent coordinates) for all three adiabatic invariants. First, the guiding-center equations of motion for a relativistic particle are derived from the particle Lagrangian. Covariant aspects of the re...

A simple mathematical procedure is introduced which allows redefining in an exact way divergent integrals and limits that appear in the basic equations of classical electrodynamics with point charges. In this way all divergences are at once removed without affecting the locality and the relativistic covariance of the theory, and with no need for mass renormalization. The procedure is first used to obtain a finite expression for the electromagnetic energy-momentum of the syste...

We consider a classical test particle subject to electromagnetic and gravitational fields, described by a Lagrangian depending on the acceleration and on a fundamental length. We associate to the particle a moving local reference frame and we study its trajectory in the principal fibre bundle of all the Lorentz frames. We discuss in this framework the general form of the Lagrange equations and the connection between symmetries and conservation laws (Noether theorem). We apply...