Radiated power and radiation reaction forces of coherently oscillating charged particles in classical electrodynamics

Abstract

For the foreseeable future, the analysis and design of the complex systems needed to generate intense beams of radiation via the process of coherent emission into free-space will depend on the principles and methods of classical electrodynamics (CED). But the fields and forces predicted by the currently accepted CED theory are manifestly incompatible with Maxwell's equations' energy integral as applied to the process of coherent emission into free-space. It is the purpose of this paper to review the evidence for these limitations of conventional CED, to identify an alternative formulation of CED that does not suffer from these defects, and to describe how the predictions of this more physically realistic formulation of electrodynamics, including the role of the advanced interactions allowed by Maxwell's equations and thermodynamics, might be tested by experiment and applied to enhance the capabilities of devices and systems employing the mechanism of ``radiation into free-space.''