Renormalization of the Lorentz-Abraham-Dirac Equation for Radiation Reaction Force in Classical Electrodynamics

Dirac's analysis of radiation reaction force in classical electrodynamics suggested that a 4-momentum not collinear with 4-velocity could be introduced for a radiating electron. This would be equivalent to renormalization of the electron mass as an operator relating these 4-vectors. Dirac also pointed to an arbitrary choice made in deriving the Lorentz-Abraham-Dirac (LAD) equation. It was shown that renormalization substantially modifies the LAD equation under the additional requirement that the standard relativistic relation E-2 = p(2)c(2) + m(2)c(4) holds for the renormalized energy and momentum. The renormalized LAD equation is more rigorous than the LAD equation, because the drawbacks of the latter are eliminated, and is simpler than a well-known approximation of the LAD equation. The renormalized LAD equation appears to be better suited for numerical simulations of processes in ultrahigh-intensity laser-pulse fields.