Synchrotron radiation in odd dimensions

D. V. Gal'tsov, M. Khlopunov

Published 2020-02-29Version 1

In odd space-time dimensions, the retarded solution of the massless wave equation has support not only on the light cone, but also inside it. At the same time, a free massless field should propagate at the speed of light. The apparent contradiction of these two features is resolved by the fact that the emitted part of the field in the wave zone depends on the history of motion up to the retarded moment of proper time. It is shown that in the case of circular motion with ultrarelativistic velocity, the main contribution to the radiation amplitude is made by a small interval of proper time preceding the retarded time, and thus the tail term is effectively localized. We obtain a tentative formula for scalar synchrotron radiation in $D$ dimensions: $P =g^2(\omega_0\gamma^2/\sqrt{3})^{D-2}$, which is explicitly verified in $D=3,\,4,\,5$.