SIMULATION OF THE N CHARGED BODIES PROBLEM: THE CLASSICAL ATOM

A set of computational routines has been employed for calculating in real time the trajectories of N charged bodies which are acted upon by electromagnetic forces of the CoulombAbraham-Lorentz type. These routines yield the complete solution of the motion equation for the “classical atom”. The computer code that evaluates the interaction effect is interesting in itself because it contains the radiation damping term, which is proportional to the timederivative of the acceleration; this is often a cumbersome analytical and interpretational task. The results permit the graphical representation of the trajectories and, a reasonable estimate of the “collapse time”. Subject headings: radiation by moving charges — computational techniques and simulations — classical electrodynamics