The self-force and the radiation reaction, F. Rohrlich, Am. J. Phys. 68(12), December 2000
In view of the confusion in the literature, the nomenclature of "self-force" and "radiation reaction" is clarified. The difference in their physical meaning and their characteristic form permits one to obtain the total rate of radiation emission (both its momentum rate and its energy rate) from a knowledge of the self-force. This can be done without knowledge of the self-force. This can be done without knowledge of the asymptotic form of the radiation field. The electromagnetic case is the main topic, but the method is also applies also to the emission of the gravitational radiation in the in the linear approximation to general relativity.