On the quantum interpretation of the classical Schott term in the theory of radiation damping

Abstract: The quantum interpretation of classical radiation reaction coming from the near electromagnetic self-force (the so-called "Schott term") is given for the first time. The analysis is based on the Landau--Lifshitz equation for classical ultrarelativistic motion including radiation reaction effects for the case of channeling radiation in oriented crystals in the wide region of electron energies from few MeV and up to hundreds GeV. This type of radiation is unique in that sense that it has a pronounced quantum character in two extreme cases of low and high energies. We show that quantum transitions between the transverse energy states of channeling particles represent the quantum analog of the classical Schott term. The impetus for this work was the recent reports on the feasibility of detecting experimentally the effects of the action of classical radiative self-force on the motion of electrons (positrons) channelled in oriented crystals at the CERN Secondary Beam Areas (SBA) beamlines, although the basic results of this work are valid for arbitrary ultrarelativistic motion.