New solutions to an old equation

Abstract

We present a brief historical overview of the classical theory of a radiating point charge, described by the Lorentz-Dirac equation. A recent development is the discovery of tunnelling of a charge through a potential barrier, in a completely classical context. Also, a concrete example is discussed of the existence of several physically acceptable solutions for a range of initial data. We end by pointing out some open problems in connection with D-brane and monopole physics.

Presented at the conference ``Fundamental interactions: from symmetries to black holes'' in honor of Francois Englert, Brussels, March 25-27, 1999. (12 pages, 1 eps-figure)