The Motion of a Pair of Charged Particles

We re-visit the problem of two (oppositely) charged particles interacting electromagnetically in one dimension with retarded potentials and no radiation reaction. The specific quantitative result of interest is the time it takes for the particles to fall in towards one another. Starting with the non-relativistic form, we answer this question while adding layers of complexity until we arrive at the full relativistic delay differential equation that governs this problem. That case can be solved using the Synge method, which we describe and discuss.