Singularity-free electrodynamics for point charges and dipoles: a classical model for electron self-energy and spin

Abstract

It is shown how point charges and point dipoles with finite self-energies can be accommodated in classical electrodynamics. The key idea is the introduction of constitutive relations for the electromagnetic vacuum, which actually mirrors the physical reality of vacuum polarization. Our results reduce to conventional electrodynamics for scales large compared to the classical electron radius r0 ≈ 2.8 × 10−15 m. A classical simulation for a structureless electron is proposed, with the appropriate values of mass, spin and magnetic moment.