Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2006 / ii / Paper 4 / 35E / Solution

First retain the question's units $c=1$. Insert the retarded time Dirac delta:For a point charge, the spatial delta sets $x^{\prime }=x_0(t^{\prime })$. Put $R(t^{\prime })=|x-x_0(t^{\prime })|$, $\hat{R}=(x-x_0)/R$ and $v={\dot{x}}_0(t^{\prime })$. The retarded root $t_{\ast }$ satisfies $t-t_{\ast }=R(t_{\ast })$. The derivative of the delta's argument is $-1+\hat{R}\cdot v$, so for a subluminal trajectory its absolute value is $1-\hat{R}\cdot v$. Performing the time integral givesAll quantities in the denominator are evaluated at the retarded time. The retarded vector potential uses current $j=qv{\delta }^{(3)}(x^{\prime }-x_0)$ and the same Jacobian determinant, givingRestoring physical $c$, the root is $t-t_{\ast }=R_{\ast }/c$, both denominators become $R_{\ast }-v_{\ast }\cdot {\mathbf{R}}_{\ast }/c$, and ${\mu }_0=1/({ϵ}_0{c}^2)$. Thus $\mathbf{A}=v_{\ast }\varphi /c^2$. This is the Liénard–Wiechert potential; the Jacobian determinant, rather than merely substituting retarded position into a static Coulomb formula, accounts for the velocity factor.