Radiation reaction and the electromagnetic energy-momentum of moving relativistic charged membranes

Abstract The charged membrane of Dirac provides a stable electron model with finite self-energy. Its total mass m has been previously calculated from the Hamiltonian of the membrane. To complete the picture we evaluate it here on the basis of the energy-momentum of its self-field (radiation reaction) and obtain the same result showing the consistency of the model. We show explicitly that the old 4 3 -problem does not arise. The electron's stability (the vanishing of total T μv , v ) is du to surface tension κ of the membrane, but the model is as simple as the point particle, with two parameters κ and e ; the surface tension parameter κ can be expressed in terms of the mass m .