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Let's consider a charged particle with a fixed speed along the x axis (for convenience). There is no external electric field $E$. If this particle enters a region of space with a constant magnetic $B$ in the z axis (for convenience), then the particle's trajectory will become (semi-)circular. This is can be easily retrieved from the Lorentz force law.

Furthermore, the modulus of the velocity of the particle won't change even if it's direction will. Thus, the energy of the particle won't change. This can be derived, for example, using the fact that for a chaged particle inside an electromagnetic field, the energy of the particle is $\dfrac{d U}{d t} = q \mathbf{v} \cdot \mathbf{E}=0$.

All of this holds even if the speed of the particle is comparable to that of light.

Now, we also know that an accelerating charged particle radiates electromagnetic energy. In this case, we would have synchrotron radiation. This means that the particle must be losing energy, even if it isn't much. And this contradicts the conservation of energy deduced from Lorentz force law!

Could someone please explain to me where I have gone wrong in my reasoning?

Now, I have been thinking about how to resolve this incompatibility, and here is the best I have been able to piece: Because of radiation $U$ would no longer be the energy of the particle, but instead would be the energy of a new system: the particle + the radiated field (let's say "a collection of photons"). Now, the energy of this system would be conserved, as Lorentz law says.

But I am not sure if this idea works or is just pure BS. What do you think?

Thank you!!!

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    $\begingroup$ This is known as the radiation damping problem, and it's messy. Point particles really don't fit into Maxwellian electromagnetism very well. $\endgroup$
    – John Doty
    Commented Sep 8, 2023 at 22:23
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    $\begingroup$ The point is that you need to account for how the particle’s produced electric field acts on itself — this is called the radiation reaction force. It’s very subtle to compute and remains the subject of papers even today. $\endgroup$
    – knzhou
    Commented Sep 8, 2023 at 22:24

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This question concerns an aspect of electromagnetism called self force (it is also called radiation reaction), and it also concerns the fact that you can't have a truly point-like particle of non-zero charge. This is because such a particle would source a field with infinite field energy.

If you take the limit of a particle in which the charge tends to zero, then the radiated energy tends to zero faster than the Lorentz force and in the limit you get a circular orbit and no radiation.

If we consider a charged body which is not point-like and therefore can have a finite charge, then we have to consider the fact that each part of the charged body produces a field and experiences the field produced by the other parts, in addition to any externally applied field. When the body accelerates these various internal contributions do not sum to zero, and they result in a force called the self-force. The self-force provides just the right amount of force to conserve momentum and energy overall. That is, the emitted radiation carries away energy and momentum, and the self-force makes the radiating body lose that amount of energy and momentum.

Note, all the above concerns classical electromagnetism. In quantum theory a single electron is often said to be 'point-like' but in fact its wavefunction is never confined to an infinitesimally small volume (because that would require infinite energy and there would be pair production). The self-force relates to the aspect of field theory called renormalization, and that is a whole further story.

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    $\begingroup$ > "such a particle would source a field with infinite field energy" Only if we stick with Poynting's formulae. Which were derived under the assumption that expressions such as $\mathbf j\cdot\mathbf E$ are defined, which fails for point particles. There is a consistent theory of point charged particles free of these infinite energies/undefined expressions, variants are due to Fokker, Tetrode, Frenkel, Feynman-Wheeler. $\endgroup$ Commented Sep 8, 2023 at 23:31
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Now, we also know that an accelerating charged particle radiates electromagnetic energy. In this case, we would have synchrotron radiation.

We know it radiates EM radiation, but whether there is energy flow associated with this radiation is a more subtle question.

We know with certainty radiation of groups of very many charged particles that move and accelerate together, as a quasi-compact system, carries away EM energy, and this $group$ is continually slowed down and to continue moving the same way (with the same amplitude), has to be re-accelerated by external force (due to driving circuit of an antenna, or acceleration cavity in synchrotron). In case of synchrotron, the group of particles moving together is called bunch.

In case the charged body/particle is composite, made of several charged parts, we can regard it similarly, and the radiation carries EM energy a la Poynting.

For radiation of single point particle in magnetic field, we don't know of a consistent theory where such radiation carries energy, at least not in the usual sense. The Poynting theorem cannot be interpreted in terms of energy in case of point particles ($\mathbf j\cdot\mathbf E$ is undefined, total Poynting energy is infinite).

There is a class of mathematically consistent EM theories of point charged particles (the Frenkel/Feynman-Wheeler type of theories), which assigns zero energy/momentum flux to field of a single point particle, and non-zero electromagnetic energy/momentum density, positive or negative, is associated only with pairs of fields (of two point particles).

Electron is a point particle in the Standard model, but we do not know whether electron is a point particle or not in reality; the electron could have some minuscule size. Thus we also do not know whether radiation of a single accelerated electron in magnetic field carries away EM energy a la Poynting. All experiments observing such radiation ("one electron cyclotron") actually seem to observe radiation due to very many particles (currents in the walls of a waveguide, particles making up the experimental setup).

There is the adapted Feynman argument from gravity waves (the EM wave moves the charged body sliding on a rail so the rail heats up and thus the EM wave has to carry the energy), but this actually implicitly assumes that that energy had to come in with the wave and could not have been just extracted from the local EM energy in the system. The latter is actually the case for EM wave due to single particle in the Frenkel/Feynman-Wheeler type of theories, so the adapted Feynman argument is actually invalid there.

Your result $|\mathbf v|=const$ is valid only if the simplest form of the Lorentz force law for point particle is used:

$$ \mathbf F = q\mathbf E_{ext} + q\mathbf v\times\mathbf B_{ext}. $$

If the particle is made of (two or more) charged elements, this is not the entire force acting on the system, because now the elements act on each other with internal forces, and in special relativistic theory, net result of these internal forces need not be zero force. For a uniform charged ball/sphere, Lorentz and Abraham derived that there is additional force, sometimes called self-force, so the total force is approximately

$$ \mathbf F \approx q\mathbf E_{ext} + q\mathbf v\times\mathbf B_{ext} - m_{EM}\mathbf a + \frac{2}{3}\frac{Kq^2}{c^3}\frac{d\mathbf a}{dt}. $$ where $m_{EM}$ is so-called electromagnetic mass of the ball/sphere (of the order of electrostatic potential energy of the system/$c^2$), $K=\frac{1}{4\pi\epsilon_0}$ and $\mathbf a$ is acceleration of the whole charged ball/sphere.

The EM mass term is written with minus so positive EM mass increases the effective mass of the system (this is the case e.g. if it is made of same sign charges, or at least if total electrostatic energy is positive), and the last term is the so-called Lorentz-Abraham-Dirac force, or radiation-reaction force.

This changes the analysis and makes it possible that the accelerated charged body actually loses energy in magnetic field.

... $U$ would no longer be the energy of the particle, but instead would be the energy of a new system: the particle + the radiated field (let's say "a collection of photons"). Now, the energy of this system would be conserved, as Lorentz law says.

Total energy of isolated region would be conserved only if there is zero energy flux on the boundary of the region, so the boundary has to be put far enough and there must not be acceleration in the past. This is pretty obscure and hard to check, so it is much safer to talk only about local conservation of energy: this means that we do not say that total energy of particle + EM energy is conserved, but only say that this energy can change only via EM energy flux through the boundary. But this law of local conservation of energy is a general result, going beyond the specificity of the situation where magnetic Lorentz force does not work and is the only force present.

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  • $\begingroup$ Comments have been moved to chat; please do not continue the discussion here. Before posting a comment below this one, please review the purposes of comments. Comments that do not request clarification or suggest improvements usually belong as an answer, on Physics Meta, or in Physics Chat. Comments continuing discussion may be removed. $\endgroup$
    – Buzz
    Commented Sep 9, 2023 at 1:25
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The Lorentz force says nothing about the deeper cause of the deflection of moving charges in magnetic fields. The phenomenon was described for a current-carrying conductor that was deflected perpendicular to the current flow and magnetic field.

What other side effects does the Lorentz force have?:

  • the electrical resistance of the conductor increases and the conductor heats up more than without a magnetic field
  • photons are emitted from the charges; this can be seen most impressively for a free-electron laser.

Now I don't know of a description that links all these aspects, but I'll try one anyway:

  • electrons have a magnetic dipole (this is often neglected, but it is so),
  • this dipole gets aligned with the external magnetic field (without any doubt),
  • photons are emitted in the process (best senn for the free-electron laser)
  • these photons have a moment (without any doubt) and have two effects
  • the magnetic dipole of the electron is misaligned (its alignment with the magnetic field is disturbed) (*) and
  • the electrons are deflected sideways when the photon is emitted.

Besides the external - best observed and formulated - process of deflection and without taking into account the photon emission and the interaction of the magnetic fields, one can therefore describe a more detailed process.

Now, we also know that an accelerating charged particle radiates electromagnetic energy. In this case, we would have synchrotron radiation. This means that the particle must be losing energy,

That is exactly what is happening. And the charge does not describe a circle, because that would be a perpetuum mobile, but a spiral, in the centre of which the charge comes to a standstill after the consumption of its kinetic energy - through the photon emissions.(+)

TL;DR
(*) I don't know if it can be proven, but I claim that electrons at rest in an external magnetic field make that magnetic field stronger than the same number of "Lorentz" electrons. And this is because of the not so perfect alignment of the electrons de-aligned with each photon emission. If you have ever calculated or even measured this for a free-electron laser, you have certainly found an explanation for it. I would be interested to know which one.
(+) The spiral phenomenon is observed in bubble chambers and is probably explained by the incomplete vacuum. The description of the deflection by photon emission seems more intuitive and is probably also best calculated for the electrons of the free-electron laser.
TL;DR

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