Progress in the generation of extremely short pulses of electromagnetic radiation makes the question of the properties of the limiting form of their shortening — unipolar pulses with a significant zero-frequency component of the spectrum, that is, the electric area of the pulse — relevant. Recently, it has been established that it is the electric area that determines the effectiveness of the impact of extremely short pulses on micro-objects. At the same time, unipolar pulses have a number of unusual properties, which makes some researchers doubt the possibility of their existence and propagation. Here, we show that a uniformly moving relativistic electric charge creates a short unipolar pulse of the electromagnetic field. Unipolarity is realized as well for transition radiation. We also present the unipolarity condition for a pair of charges — a dipole — and for a more general system of moving charges. This confirms the reality of unipolar electromagnetic pulses, which are promising for applications of extremely short pulses.

Correspondence should be addressed to Keywords: unipolar electromagnetic pulses, pulse electric area, field of moving electric charges PACS: 41.20.Jb, 41.75.Ht, 42.65.Re (all) DOI: 10.3367/UFNe.2022.12.039297 URL: https://ufn.ru/en/articles/2023/10/g/ 001112744100007 2-s2.0-85182898670 2023PhyU...66.1059R Citation: Rosanov N N "Unipolar pulse of an electromagnetic field with uniform motion of a charge in a vacuum" Phys. Usp. 66 1059–1064 (2023) BibTexBibNote ® (generic)BibNote ® (RIS)MedlineRefWorks Received: 16th, June 2022, revised: 1st, September 2022, accepted: 13th, December 2022 Оригинал: Розанов Н Н «Униполярный импульс электромагнитного поля при равномерном движении заряда в вакууме» УФН 193 1127–1133 (2023); DOI: 10.3367/UFNr.2022.12.039297