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Applications of Electrodynamics in Theoretical Physics and Astrophysics Applications of Electrodynamics in Theoretical Physics and Astrophysics V. L. Ginzburg P. N. Lebedev Institute for Physics Moscow, USSR Translated from the Revised Third Russian Edition by Oleg Glebov GORDON AND BREACH SCIENCE PUBLISHERS New York· London· Paris· Montreux ·Tokyo· Melbourne © 1989 by OPA (Amsterdam) B.V. All rights reserved. Published under license by Gordon and Breach Science Publishers S.A. Gordon and Breach Science Publishers Post Office Box 786 Post Office Box 197 Cooper Station London WC2E 9PX New York, New York 10276 United Kingdom United States of America 58, rue Lhomond Post Office Box 161 75005 Paris 1820 Montreux 2 France Switzerland 3-14-9, Okubo Private Bag 8 Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo Camberwell, Victoria 3124 Japan Australia Originally published in Russian as TEOPE'!H'IECKNI ~H3HKA H ACTPOtlH3HKA © by Nauka, 1987 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Ginzburg, V. L. (Vitalii Lazarevich), 1916- [Teoreticheskaia fizika i astrofizika. English] Applications of Electrodynamics in Theoretical Physics and Astrophysics/ V.L. Ginzburg; translated from the Russian by Oleg Glebov. --3rd ed. p. cm. Translation of: Teoreticheskaiia fizika i astrofizika. Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 2-88124-719-9 1. Mathematical physics. 2. Astrophysics. I. Title. QC20.G5313 1989 530.1---dc20 89-16909 CIP No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Printed in the United Kingdom Contents Preface vii Chapter 1. The Hamiltonian Approach to Electrodynamics 1 Chapter 2. Radiation Reaction 25 Chapter 3. Uniformly Accelerated Charges 35 Chapter 4. Radiation Emitted by Relativistic and Non-relativistic Moving Particles 49 Chapter 5. Synchrotron Radiation 65 Chapter 6. Electrodynamics of a Continuous Medium 93 Chapter 7. The Cerenkov and Doppler Effects 123 Chapter 8. Transition Radiation and Transition Scattering 159 Chapter 9. Superluminal Sources of Radiation 199 Chapter 10. Reabsorption and Transfer of Radiation 217 Chapter 11. Electrodynamics of Media with Spatial Dispersion 237 Chapter 12. Permittivity and Wave Propagation in Plasmas 265 Chapter 13. The Energy-Momentum Tensor and Forces in Macroscopic Electrodynamics. Energy and Heat Liberated in a Dispersive Absorbing Medium 297 Chapter 14. Fluctuations and van der Waals Forces 323 .Chapter 15. Wave Scattering in a Medium 343 Chapter 16. Astrophysics of Cosmic Rays 369 Chapter 17. X-Ray Astronomy 409 Chapter 18. Gamma-Ray Astronomy 443 References 459 Subject index 473 v Preface This book, revised from the third Russian editfon, is a specially written text based on a lecture course for students in the Physics and Astrophysics Department of the Moscow Physico-Technical Institute. It is not intended as a systematic course book, but rather as a supplementary text to the standard course books on theoretical physics and astrophysics, such as the famous 8 volume course written by L. Landau and E. Lifshits. As such, it addresses selected problems in theoretical physics and astrophysics, most of which are to a greater or lesser extent associated with electrodynamics. Additions since the publication of the first edition include a special chapter on the theory of transition radiation and transition scattering and also a discussion of the problem of toroidal dipole moments, which as far as the author knows, is not even mentioned in any university textbook. Also, misprints have been corrected and the reference list altered: some substitutions and many additions have been made. It should be noted that although the reference list is quite extensive and updated to 1989, it is not exhaustive and is intended as an aid to orient the reader and aimed at providing the required minimum of initial information on literature in the field. Therefore, some of the papers quoted are not definitive and appear in the list only because they were at hand, while some pioneering studies, significant reviews and monographs, are not listed. Any other approach would hardly be feasible since the range of problems discussed in the book is fairly large and the number of publications in these fields is enormous. A more complete reference list can now be provided only in reviews or monographs covering a narrow field or in special bibliographical or historical works. The author hopes that this book will prove useful for graduate students and for postdoctoral and research workers, and is grateful to all those who read the manuscripts of this book and made helpful suggestions to improve the text. vii