A precise understanding of the radio emission from extensive air showers is
of fundamental importance for the design of cosmic ray radio detectors as well
as the analysis and interpretation of their data. In recent years, tremendous
progress has been made in the understanding of the emission physics both in
macroscopic and microscopic frameworks. A consistent picture has emerged: the
emission stems mainly from time-varying transverse currents and a time-varying
charge excess; in addition, Cherenkov-like compression of the emission due to
the refractive index gradient in the atmosphere can lead to time-compression of
the emitted pulses and thus high-frequency contributions in the signal. In this
article, I discuss the evolution of the modelling in recent years, present the
emission physics as it is understood today, and conclude with a description and
comparison of the models currently being actively developed.Comment: Proceedings of the ARENA2012 conference (Erlangen, Germany), to be
published in AIP Conference Proceeding