Finite energy scattering for the Lorentz-Maxwell equation (Q944217)

The main goal of the paper is to study the asymptotics of the Abraham model (introduced in 1903 in order to describe the dynamics of the electron). More specifically, the Abraham model describes the interaction of a charged particle with the field that it generates, and can be seen as a coupling of the Lorentz equation (which governs the movement of the particle) and the Maxwell equation (which gives the evolution of the field). Moreover, the particle is considered to have a fixed, spherically symmetric, charge distribution. In the paper the system is provided with initial data, being considered the following Cauchy problem: \[ m \dot{p}(t) = e E^\rho (q(t)) + e \dot{q}(t) \times B^\rho (q(t)) \qquad\text{with } p = \frac{\dot{q}}{\sqrt{1-\dot{q}^2}} \] \[ \begin{aligned} &\dot{E}(x,t) = \text{curl} B - e \rho(x - q(t)) \dot{q}(t)\\ &\dot{B}(x,t) = - \text{curl} E(x,t)\\ &\text{div} B(x,t) = 0\\ &\text{div} E(x,t) = e \rho(x - q(t))\\ &(q,\dot{q},E,B)_{| t=0} = (q_0,\dot{q}_0,E_0,B_0)\,, \end{aligned} \] where \((t,x) \in {\mathbb R} \times {\mathbb R}^3\), \(q\) denotes the position of the particle, \(p\) its momentum, and \(\rho\) its charge distribution, which is so that \[ \rho \in {\mathcal C}_0^\infty \,,\qquad \rho \geq 0 \,,\qquad \rho = \rho(| x| ) \,,\qquad \int_{{\mathbb R}^3} \rho = 1 \,. \] In addition, for a function \(f\) the notation \(f^\rho = f * \rho\) is used. The total charge of the particle is given by \(e\), its mass by \(m\), and all other physical constants (including the speed of light) are taken to be one. The electric and magnetic field are denoted \(E\) and \(B\). The initial data are assumed to satisfy the constraints \[ \text{div} B_0 (x) = 0 \,,\qquad \text{div} E_0(x) = e \rho(x-q_0)\,. \] The conditions on \(\text{div} E\) and \(\text{div} B\) in the above system are therefore secondary since if they hold true for the data this is propagated by the flow given by the first three equations. The main result of the paper is stated in the following way: If \({e^2}/{m}\) is small enough, then for any data of finite energy, that is \[ {\mathcal E}(\dot{q}_0,E_0,B_0) < \infty\,, \] the solution of the above system scatters. More precisely, there exists \(v_\infty \in {\mathbb R}^3\) (of norm less than one) and \(E_L\), \(B_L\) finite-energy solutions of the free Maxwell equation such that \[ \begin{cases} \dot{q}(t) \to v_\infty \\ E(t) - E_{\dot{q}(t)}(\cdot-q(t)) - E_L(t) \to 0 \quad (\text{in } L^2)\\ B(t) - B_{\dot{q}(t)}(\cdot-q(t)) - B_L(t) \to 0 \quad (\text{in } L^2) \end{cases}\quad\text{as } t \to \infty. \]