RADIATION FROM A QUASI-UNIFORMLY ACCELERATED CHARGE

It is pointed out that the Poynting flux associated with the retarded electromagnetic field of a uniformly accelerated charge found in the literature has a puzzling feature; its transverse component is oriented toward the charge at any point on the null surface to which the charge's world line approaches asymptotically in the past. We resolve this puzzle by considering a charge which is smoothly brought into the state of uniform acceleration from the state of inertial motion in the infinite past. We also elucidate the physical origin of delta-function terms contained in the above-mentioned field. (C) 1995 Academic Press, Inc.