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For fixed finite velocities, the nonrelativistic limit $c\to \infty$ gives ${\gamma }^2=(1-v^2/c^2{)}^{-1}\to 1$. Hence the relativistic rocket equation reduces towhich is the nonrelativistic rocket equation.

The conserved quantities called energy in the two calculations include different contributions. The nonrelativistic calculation considered only kinetic energy, which increases as fuel releases internal energy; total energy including that internal reservoir is still conserved. Relativistic energy includes rest energy, and therefore includes the fuel's stored internal energy through the rocket's rest mass. That rest mass decreases as energy is transferred into the exhaust. Thus conservation of relativistic energy and the nonconservation of kinetic energy express the same physical conversion.

Write $E=|\mathbf{E}|$ and $\hat{\mathbf{E}}=\mathbf{E}/E$. The constant electric force gives momentumCombining $\mathbf{p}=\gamma m\dot{\mathbf{x}}$ with the relativistic energy-momentum relation givesThe dimensional analysis from part (a) confirms that $qEt$ has the dimensions of momentum, so $qEt/(mc)$ is dimensionless and the expression has the dimensions of velocity.

The speed increases monotonically from zero and approaches the speed of light asymptotically:Integrating in the direction of the field givesAt small times, the Taylor expansion of the square root gives the nonrelativistic limitwhich is motion from rest with the constant acceleration $q\mathbf{E}/m$.

The electric-dipole approximation for radiation requires the source size to be much smaller than the radiation wavelength:The displayed $1/r$ fields also describe the radiation zone, so the observation point must satisfy $r\gg a$ and $r\gg c/\omega$.

Write $t_r=t-r/c$. The given vector potential and the time derivative of the electric dipole moment giveWhen taking the curl, differentiating $1/r$ produces a near-field term of order $r^{-2}$, while differentiating the retarded time produces the leading radiation term because $\nabla t_r=-\hat{\mathbf{x}}/c$. Hence

The assumed electric field $\mathbf{E}=-c\hat{\mathbf{x}}\times \mathbf{B}$ and the transversality $\hat{\mathbf{x}}\cdot \mathbf{B}=0$ make the Poynting vectorOn a sphere of radius $R$, the power through surface element $R^{2}d\Omega$ is thereforeChoose the polar axis along $\ddot{\mathbf{p}}$ and use the angular distribution of electric dipole radiation, for which $|\hat{\mathbf{x}}\times \ddot{\mathbf{p}}{|}^2=|\ddot{\mathbf{p}}{|}^2{\sin }^2\theta$. Since $\int {\sin }^2\theta d\Omega =8\pi /3$,

For the charged particle in simple harmonic motion,ThusHere the angular frequency obeys $\omega =2\pi /T$, and the average uses $⟨{\sin }^2⟩=1/2$. The dipole condition is

Allow the amplitude to vary slowly as radiation removes energy. The mechanical energy isso the radiation damping of a harmonically oscillating charge givesThis is exponential decay with rate $\gamma ={\mu }_0{q}^2{\omega }^2/(6\pi mc)$. Its half-life isFinally, the largest particle speed is $v_{\max }=A\omega$. Therefore the dipole condition $A\omega /c\ll 1$ itself implies $v_{\max }\ll c$, precisely the nonrelativistic limit required by the mechanical energy formula.

The one-dimensional Lorentz transformation givesHence

As $|\beta |\to 0$, $\gamma =1+O({\beta }^2)$. The spatial transformation is therefore $x^{\prime }=x-ut+O({\beta }^2)$, whileUnder the stated condition $|x|<c|t|$, the fractional correction $|ux|/(c^2|t|)$ is smaller than $|\beta |$ and tends to zero. Thus the Lorentz transformation has the nonrelativistic limit given by the Galilean transformation.