https://doi.org/10.1140/epjc/s10052-016-3939-6
Regular Article - Theoretical Physics
Effect of a cylindrical thin-shell of matter on the electrostatic self-force on a charge
Departamento de Física, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires and IFIBA, CONICET Cuidad Universitaria, Buenos Aires, 1428, Argentina
* e-mail: erdec@df.uba.ar
Received:
5
December
2015
Accepted:
7
February
2016
Published online:
22
February
2016
The electrostatic self-force on a point charge in cylindrical thin-shell space-times is interpreted as the sum of a bulk field and a shell field. The bulk part corresponds to a field sourced by the test charge placed in a space-time without the shell. The shell field accounts for the discontinuity of the extrinsic curvature 
. An equivalent electric problem is stated, in which the effect of the shell of matter on the field is reconstructed with the electric potential produced by a non-gravitating charge distribution of total image charge Q, to interpret the shell field in both the interior and exterior regions of the space-time. The self-force on a point charge q in a locally flat geometry with a cylindrical thin-shell of matter is calculated. The charge is repelled from the shell if 
(ordinary matter) and attracted toward the shell if 
(exotic matter). The total image charge is zero for exterior problems, while for interior problems 
, with 
the external radius of the shell. The procedure is general and can be applied to interpret self-forces in other space-times with shells, e.g., for locally flat wormholes we found 
.
© The Author(s), 2016
