Radiation reaction effects on the motion of an electron in an intense laser pulse

The classical theory of radiation reaction reveals problems such as "runaway solutions" and violation of causality. Over the years many questions have arisen regarding the validity of existing approaches to these problems. This work explores an alternative treatment of the motion of a radiating electron, based on an equation first proposed by Ford and O'Connell
¹
. A general condition is found for solutions of this equation to deviate from those of the traditional formulation, and is demonstrated for an electron in an intense laser field.