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ELECTROMAGNETICS AND RELATIVITY

FROM MY BOOK:

SPECIAL RELATIVITY IN THE SHADOW OF GEOMETRY

http://www.mpantes.gr/
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εισαγωγή: mental connections between electricity and relativity

Einstein, when asked if he believed in four dimensions, replied:

“I believe, but in an abstract way. It's the way we think. The human
mind is incapable of seeing and picturing these dimensions ¬ not even
electricity. Of course, this does not mean that they are less real than electricity,
the power that controls our Universe and to which we owe our existence.

So physics enters in areas that the human mind cannot see and express
with images, but that does not mean that they are less real…. geometry once
entered the same process when it could not "see" and express with images
Lobachevsky's new parallelism, which made Euclidean a special case and
which for many years was called "imaginary geometry". It was indeed
imaginary for our Euclidean world but not for a world with negative curvature
(surface of the pseudosphere). Four-dimensional reality may also be nothing
more than a mathematical space that describes the time evolution of our
ordinary three-dimensional world, or it may be the mathematical model of a
real four-dimensional world.

One could say that the "medium" of electrical interaction imposed the
new spacetime framework. Seeking to operationally define the aether, we found
the frame, and at the same time the aether became a "field". But the field still
remains unknown.

Nothing seems to concern Einstein more about the field than the
mathematical consistency of the equations. Although he states that experiment
and experiment alone test the correctness of a theory, he always believed deep
down that mathematical beauty and not experiment alone could point scientists
in the right direction. Einstein's great ability was to give physical
interpretations to mathematical phenomena. The mathematical phenomenon in
the case of the field was the congruence of Maxwell's equations in terms of
Lorentz transformations. This meant something for nature.

In 1905 he writes clearly ..

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"the electric and magnetic force vector, defined by the measurable

effects of these forces on the electric and magnetic masses..."

These forces are F=eE or F={qυxΒ). Thus E and B are defined not
measured, we cannot see them or form images of them, so some agent creates
them and ultimately they are connected to the observed force. That factor is
mathematics.1 This trend towards mathematical interpretations of the world that
begins with Maxwell and continues since then through the concepts of field
electricity, seems to be becoming a dominant trend in physics.

In electromagnetism there is a special feature: the classical

electrodynamics in vacuum, summarized in Maxwell's equations, are invariant
under the Lorentz transformation. It is, indeed, the problem of finding a
transformation which leaves Maxwell's equations unchanged that led Lorentz
to the discovery (1895) of the equations now associated with his name.
Therefore, relativity does not contribute much to electromagnetic theory in a
vacuum in terms of new results. But the four-dimensional view adds a new
perception as well as new techniques.

The elements of the relativistic description of electromagnetism are

developed by mathematics of the four dimensions, where the mathematical
treatment of the four-dimensional electric reality is made by the scalar
magnitudes, the 4-vectors and the tensors. The basic four-vectors in relativistic
electromagnetic theory is the 4-vector of current density Jμ = (j, ρ), the 4-
vector of potential (A, φ), and even the electromagnetic tensor ηmn with
coordinates the E and B .

1
When John Moffat first visited Niels Bohr in the 1950s, after corresponding with Einstein
about his grand unified theory, Bohr told him, "Einstein has become an alchemist." (who took
Einstein's chair? Regis Ed)
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The potential magnitudes related with the movement of currents and

charges with components E and B, where j, ρ, A, φ are known current and in
our space and time. Now that they move in space-time, these sizes have been
merged into a four-dimensional mathematical formalism that depicts a four
dimensional mathematical reality.

25. THE TRANSFORMATIONS OF E AND B

The principle of relativity implies that the equation

F = {qE + qu × B}…….(1) that applies to a system S, will also apply to

another S´ which moves at a uniform velocity υ in relation to S having their
common axis x. Then at S´

will apply F´ = {E´ + qu´ × B´} ……(2)

So for example for y-component of F will have

Fy = {qEy + q (uz Bx -ux Bz) ………(3)

And for its y´ -component (F´)

Fy´ = {qE´y + q (uz´ Bx – u x B´ z) …….(4)

We assume that (1) and (2) refer to the same measurement act, so if the
fields are measured at (x, y, z, t) in S and in (x´, y´, z´, t´) in S´ then the space
and time coordinates will be associated with the Lorentz transforms.

Now with relativistic transformations of force and velocity u, equations

(3) and (4) are linked (their first members), giving the relations between the
fields that summarized for all components in

E1´=E1 (E2´=E2 - υ/c B3) E3 '= γ (E3 + υ/c B2)….(25a)

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𝜐 𝜐
𝐵1′ = B1 𝐵2′ = 𝛾(𝐵2 + 𝐸3 ) 𝐵3′ =𝛾(𝐵3 − 𝐸2 ) ….(25b)
𝑐 𝑐

These are the equations of transformation of the spatial dimensions

of E and B in the formalism of relativity, from system to system, where E
and B enter into the formation of a single tensor hmn, the electromagnetic
tensor hmn (m, n are changed from 1 to 4). The relations 5 are derived
from the transformation rules of the electromagnetic tensor that collects
mathematizing all the above procedure. These show that the analysis of an
electromagnetic field in in electric and magnetic components has only a
relative significance. In the space-time, the
electric and magnetic fields "become simple
shadows", resulting in the mixing of the
electric and magnetic field and the birth of
each one from the other as a result of the
observer's movement. For example, a field
that is either purely electric or purely
magnetic in one system will generally have
both electrical and magnetic components in
another system.
“how is it possible that the same body gives and at the same time
does not give a magnetic field? In classical theory we had to interpret one
of the two results as false. In the theory of relativity both are acceptable.
The magnetic fields are relative .. A. Eddington”
…. “But perhaps the most astonishing success of special relativity in
electromagnetism is that it allows us to predict how electrical and magnetic
fields are changed when we go from one system to another. For example,
our experiment shows that an electron at rest is surrounded by an
electrostatic field, while the same electron in relative motion is known to
develop an additional magnetic field at right angles to the electrostatic.
Before the discovery of Lorentz-Einstein's transformations, these
experiments were noted but there was no interpretation to create the
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magnetic field with motion, just an empirical formula defined his birth and
magnitude. With transformations, however, the problem cleared up. We
achieved a theoretical interpretation of these mysterious events, and
classical empirical formulas appeared only as approaches. It seemed that
the electric and magnetic fields were no longer separate units but merely
different aspects of the same entity - the electromagnetic tensor. Thus, the
logical justification of the occurrence of a magnetic field around the
electrified body in motion has been achieved: this field is a direct
consequence of the changes of the fundamental types of space and time
perception, changes that are expressed by the Lorentz transformations ...
.D'Abro”

26. THE ELECTRODYNAMICS OF RELATIVITY

The principle of relativity imposes strong constraints on every theory. In

fact, Einstein's claim that the Maxwell equations satisfy the principle of
relativity, allowed him to achieve the transformation equations in the electric
and magnetic fields.

With Einstein the field becomes four-dimensional, and immaterial as

thought, as it moves the hands so the field moves the charged bodies. It is
immaterial because the empty space that replaced the ether has no mechanical
properties. It is four-dimensional because now the natural context of the whole
of physics and the world is the space-time. Mathematically, it is
transformed from system to system and there acts forces. Now it only satisfies
the Maxwell equations and everyone, (as Newton said about the gravity factor),
thinks of it as he can.

Space-time is the new instrument of field electricity, a new explanatory

component of electrical theory.

"To understand the significance of the new four-dimensional reality we

have to think as follows: The relativistic method of solving a problem
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associated with a moving body, is to solve the problem for a body at rest and
then to apply of the specific transformational equations to find the
corresponding solutions for a body in motion Compton and Allison p.759 "

The relativistic approach to the development of electrodynamics is

based on the emergence of the close relationship between the experimental
forces of electrical physics. It examines things as a function of the forces
exerted between charges in different states of motion.

"... The Law of the Coulomb gives us the force exerted on the
observation charge whatever its speed, provided the source charge is
stationary, while the magnetic force is associated with moving charges."
(A.P.French)

The theory of relativity reveals the essential relationship between the

Law of the Coulomb and the Laplace law of magnetic force. Here the
distinction between rest and motion is not considered as fundamental (since the
absolute motion has been abolished), as the distinction of phenomena due to
moving or rest charges. This is a distinction that depends on a particular
reference system. A source charge that moves in relation to a system and
therefore acts as a source of a magnetic field, at rest relative to another, and
therefore generates only an electric field on it. Similarly, a source charge that
moves in relation to a system and thus acts as a source of magnetic field in this
system may be at rest relative to another system and therefore generates only
an electric field on that system. This means (Einstein's fertile suspicion) that
what appears to be a magnetic field in a reference system and exerts the
magnetic force Laplace on a charge, can be an electric field when viewed from
another system where it exerts on the same charge, the Coulomb force ..

t h i s i s t he d e e p e s t consequence of the princ

i p l e o f r e l a t i v i t y, i n e l e c t r i c t h e o r y.

"Based on the Coulomb law alone we can achieve a quantitative

description of the electromagnetic interactions between moving charges at
arbitrarily constant speeds (A.P.French)"
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Let's look at the two interpretations by Einstein himself:

“1. If a unit electric point charge is in motion in an electromagnetic

field, there acts upon it, in addition to the electric force, an “electromotive
force” which, if we neglect the terms multiplied by the second and higher
powers of v/c, is equal to the vector-product of the velocity of the charge and
the magnetic force, divided by the velocity of light. (Old manner of expression.)

2. If a unit electric point charge is in motion in an electromagnetic field,

the force acting upon it is equal to the electric force which is present at the
locality of the charge, and which we ascertain by transformation of the field to
a system of co-ordinates at rest relatively to the electrical charge. The analogy
holds with “magnetomotive forces.” (New manner of expression.)...

The analogy holds with “magnetomotive forces.” We see that

electromotive force plays in the developed theory merely the part of an
auxiliary concept, which owes its introduction to the circumstance that electric
and magnetic forces do not exist independently of the state of motion of the
system of co-ordinates. Furthermore it is clear that the asymmetry mentioned
in the introduction as arising when we consider the currents produced by the
relative motion of a magnet and a conductor, now disappears. Moreover,
questions as to the “seat” of electrodynamic electromotive forces (unipolar
machines) now have no point”. Einstein 1905"

In the classical formula of Lorentz, B was stable in space, but the charge
without velocity (υ = 0) did not interact with it. Now in the new interpretation,
B does not exist in one system but occurs in the other, as a result of the relative
movement of the systems, the other system is another field, magnetism is the
result of the relative motion of the reference systems.

The principle of relativity is the physical cause of these results. The

mathematical cause is the Lorentz transformations. In the electrical processes
referred to in system S´, vectors E and H become E´ and H´. But the fields as
defined, are not transported by a physical process, but are transformed.
Mathematical transformations, -that come from the principle of relativity-, is
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like to contain condensed physical processes, it seems like mathematics to be

thought experiments. We speak here for a non-observable reality, that its
operational definition refers to its consequences.

"... If we apply the Maxwell equations to the Lorentz

transformations by referring to the electrical processes in the coordinate
system S´, the moving with velocity υ, we have the equations in the new system
.... But the principle of relativity requires that if the Maxwell equations for the
empty space apply to the system S, they will also apply to S´. Therefore, the
vectors E´ and H´ in the moving system S´ which are defined by the measurable
effects of these forces on the electric and magnetic masses must fulfill the
following relations ... Einstein 1905.

" So, what is the point where we introduce physics into the general
theory that Bridgman asks?” It is the old electrical forces within the new
space-time frame, the Coulomb force in a succession of media, geocentrism
(Aristotle), absolute space (Newton), ether (Poincare´) space-time (Einstein,
Minkowski), finally, with a new principle of relativity.
Now knowing the types of field transformation we can define the fields of a
charge moving at a uniform velocity, starting from the Coulomb formula in an
inertial system where the charge is at rest.

Example: We now consider the problem of calculating the mechanical

force f that 'senses' a charge e, moving at velocity u in the void space through
an electromagnetic field E and H where the measurements refer to a given
system S. Let S´ the system of rest of the charge at the time of the problem and
the coordinates of the two systems are in standard configuration. Then the force
f´ acting on the charge at S´ is given by f´ = e E´ or

f1´ = eE1' f2 '= eE2' f3 '= eE3' ......... (26. 1)

where E is the electric field in S.

By substituting the prime letters of (6) by (5) and the types of force and
assuming that in our case υ = u, (attention) still the rest mass of the particles of
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charge remains constant (for the transformation of force) we have for the
system S

𝑢𝐻3
𝑓1 = 𝑒𝐸1 𝑓2 = 𝑒(𝐸2 −
𝑐
𝑢𝐻2
𝑓3 = 𝑒(𝐸3 + )
𝑐

We can write this in a single equation of vector form

f = q {E + (u × H)}

where u the relative velocity of the two reference systems, that in the
classical formula was the velocity of the particle relative to the absolute
reference system, the ether.

That is, the classical Lorentz force now refers to any inertial system2.

This is the electrodynamics of relativity, where we see that

"... we consider the forces to be a primary issue. Verification of the

electric and magnetic field is then a secondary step, based on the analysis of the
total force in parts independent of the velocity of the observation charge (field
E) and dependent on the velocity of the observation charge (field B).
(A.P.French) »

Thus, Maxwell's work, together with Einstein's special relativity theory,

constituted a unification of the electric and magnetic fields into a more
meaningful electromagnetic field. Of course Maxwell's equations, as saw
above, still refer to the electric and magnetic fields separately. The complete
mathematical unification of these fields came a little later, from the beautiful
work of Hermann Minkowski, when he introduced the Maxwell

2
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tensor (or Maxwell bivector) into the theory in 1908. This mathematical object
has six degrees of freedom, representing the three components of each of the
electric and magnetic fields and which, owing to its tensor nature, could be
regarded as being, in a well-defined sense, independent of the observer.
However, a particular observer may still retrieve his personal electric and
magnetic fields from it by a simple procedure. Maxwell's equations may then
be rewritten in a simple and elegant way as differential equations involving this
tensor.

But as we already know, Maxwell's equations were cohesive with

Lorentz transformations. So here, beyond the use of a new formalism, there are
no ups and surprises like mechanics.

Maxwell's theory is relativistically correct.

Einstein so, does not appear to be concerned with anything more about
the field, than the mathematical consequence of the equations. Although he
states that the experiment alone controls the correctness of a theory, he has
always believed that mathematical beauty rather than experiment, could in
itself indicate the right direction for scientists. Einstein's great ability was to
give physical interpretations of mathematical phenomena. The mathematical
effect in the case of the field, was the covariance of the Maxwell equations as
to Lorentz transformations. This has a meaning about nature…..
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