Conservation Theorems in Modified Electrodynamics

Abstract

A system of interacting particles with variable rest masses is considered, whose motion is governed by a variational principle of general form, in which there are self-action terms instead of the usual specifically inertial terms. For suitable restrictions of the action principle it is shown that, when the particles are at distances large compared to the classical electron radius, the new theory reduces to classical electrodynamics and the variable rest masses become constants of the motion. The conservation laws of energy momentum and of angular momentum are derived from the Lorentz invariance of the general action principle.