Variational principle for the Wheeler-Feynman electrodynamics
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Publication:3069112
DOI10.1063/1.3154509zbMATH Open1216.78005arXiv0901.1077OpenAlexW2099570183MaRDI QIDQ3069112FDOQ3069112
Authors: Jayme De Luca 
Publication date: 24 January 2011
Published in: Journal of Mathematical Physics (Search for Journal in Brave)
Abstract: We adapt the formally-defined Fokker action into a variational principle for the electromagnetic two-body problem. We introduce properly defined boundary conditions to construct a Poincare-invariant-action-functional of a finite orbital segment into the reals. The boundary conditions for the variational principle are an endpoint along each trajectory plus the respective segment of trajectory for the other particle inside the lightcone of each endpoint. We show that the conditions for an extremum of our functional are the mixed-type-neutral-equations with implicit state-dependent-delay of the electromagnetic-two-body problem. We put the functional on a natural Banach space and show that the functional is Frechet-differentiable. We develop a method to calculate the second variation for C2 orbital perturbations in general and in particular about circular orbits of large enough radii. We prove that our functional has a local minimum at circular orbits of large enough radii, at variance with the limiting Kepler action that has a minimum at circular orbits of arbitrary radii. Our results suggest a bifurcation at some radius below which the circular orbits become saddle-point extrema. We give a precise definition for the distributional-like integrals of the Fokker action and discuss a generalization to a Sobolev space of trajectories where the equations of motion are satisfied almost everywhere. Last, we discuss the existence of solutions for the state-dependent delay equations with slightly perturbated arcs of circle as the boundary conditions and the possibility of nontrivial solenoidal orbits.
Full work available at URL: https://arxiv.org/abs/0901.1077
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Cites Work
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- A mixed neutral system
- Numerical Methods for Delay Differential Equations
- Electromagnetic Two-Body Problem
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- Geometric integration of the electromagnetic two-body problem
- Covariant Hamiltonian for the electromagnetic two-body problem
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- A First-Order Variational Principle for Classical Electrodynamics
- Finite element boundary value integration of Wheeler-Feynman electrodynamics
- Chemical principle and PDE of variational electrodynamics
- Equations of motion for variational electrodynamics
- Solutions of the Wheeler-Feynman equations with discontinuous velocities
- Global solutions to the electrodynamic two-body problem on a straight line
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