The motion of a charged particle as viewed from heaven

A new approach to the problem of the motion of a self-interacting massive charged particle in general relativity is presented. A charged Robinson-Trautman (RT) solution is used as a general relativity model for such a particle. Such a solution is shown to generate a unique world-line in its ownH-space. This is argued to be the asymptotically observed world-line of the particle. Using the RT dynamical relations, the equation of motion is derived, and, in the limiting case of zero curvature, it is shown to be the same as the classical Lorentz-Dirac equation of motion.This essay received an honorable mention (1977) from the Gravity Research Foundation-Ed.