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Four-potential
An electromagnetic four-potential is a relativistic vector function from which the electromagnetic field can be derived. It combines both an electric scalar potential and a magnetic vector potential into a single four-vector.Gravitation, J.A. Wheeler, C. Misner, K.S. Thorne, W.H. Freeman & Co, 1973, As measured in a given frame of reference, and for a given gauge, the first component of the electromagnetic four-potential is conventionally taken to be the electric scalar potential, and the other three components make up the magnetic vector potential. While both the scalar and vector potential depend upon the frame, the electromagnetic four-potential is Lorentz covariant. Like other potentials, many different electromagnetic four-potentials correspond to the same electromagnetic field, depending upon the choice of gauge. This article uses tensor index notation and the Minkowski metric sign convention . See also covariance and contravariance of vectors and raising and lowering ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Magnetic Vector Potential
In classical electromagnetism, magnetic vector potential (often called A) is the vector quantity defined so that its curl is equal to the magnetic field: \nabla \times \mathbf = \mathbf. Together with the electric potential ''φ'', the magnetic vector potential can be used to specify the electric field E as well. Therefore, many equations of electromagnetism can be written either in terms of the fields E and B, or equivalently in terms of the potentials ''φ'' and A. In more advanced theories such as quantum mechanics, most equations use potentials rather than fields. Magnetic vector potential was first introduced by Franz Ernst Neumann and Wilhelm Eduard Weber in 1845 and in 1846, respectively. Lord Kelvin also introduced vector potential in 1847, along with the formula relating it to the magnetic field. Magnetic vector potential The magnetic vector potential A is a vector field, defined along with the electric potential ''ϕ'' (a scalar field) by the equations: \mathbf ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Four-gradient
In differential geometry, the four-gradient (or 4-gradient) \boldsymbol is the four-vector analogue of the gradient \vec from vector calculus. In special relativity and in quantum mechanics, the four-gradient is used to define the properties and relations between the various physical four-vectors and tensors. Notation This article uses the metric signature. SR and GR are abbreviations for special relativity and general relativity respectively. c indicates the speed of light in vacuum. \eta_ = \operatorname ,-1,-1,-1/math> is the flat spacetime metric of SR. There are alternate ways of writing four-vector expressions in physics: * The four-vector style can be used: \mathbf \cdot \mathbf, which is typically more compact and can use vector notation, (such as the inner product "dot"), always using bold uppercase to represent the four-vector, and bold lowercase to represent 3-space vectors, e.g. \vec \cdot \vec. Most of the 3-space vector rules have analogues in four-vector mathe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Electromagnetic Tensor
In electromagnetism, the electromagnetic tensor or electromagnetic field tensor (sometimes called the field strength tensor, Faraday tensor or Maxwell bivector) is a mathematical object that describes the electromagnetic field in spacetime. The field tensor was first used after the four-dimensional tensor formulation of special relativity was introduced by Hermann Minkowski. The tensor allows related physical laws to be written very concisely, and allows for the quantization of the electromagnetic field by Lagrangian formulation described below. Definition The electromagnetic tensor, conventionally labelled ''F'', is defined as the exterior derivative of the electromagnetic four-potential, ''A'', a differential 1-form: :F \ \stackrel\ \mathrmA. Therefore, ''F'' is a differential 2-form—that is, an antisymmetric rank-2 tensor field—on Minkowski space. In component form, :F_ = \partial_\mu A_\nu - \partial_\nu A_\mu. where \partial is the four-gradient and A is th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Four-vector
In special relativity, a four-vector (or 4-vector) is an object with four components, which transform in a specific way under Lorentz transformations. Specifically, a four-vector is an element of a four-dimensional vector space considered as a representation space of the standard representation of the Lorentz group, the (,) representation. It differs from a Euclidean vector in how its magnitude is determined. The transformations that preserve this magnitude are the Lorentz transformations, which include spatial rotations and boosts (a change by a constant velocity to another inertial reference frame). Four-vectors describe, for instance, position in spacetime modeled as Minkowski space, a particle's four-momentum , the amplitude of the electromagnetic four-potential at a point in spacetime, and the elements of the subspace spanned by the gamma matrices inside the Dirac algebra. The Lorentz group may be represented by 4×4 matrices . The action of a Lorentz transformat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lorenz Gauge Condition
In electromagnetism, the Lorenz gauge condition or Lorenz gauge, for Ludvig Lorenz, is a partial gauge fixing of the electromagnetic vector potential by requiring \partial_\mu A^\mu = 0. The name is frequently confused with Hendrik Lorentz, who has given his name to many concepts in this field. The condition is Lorentz invariant. The condition does not completely determine the gauge: one can still make a gauge transformation A^\mu \to A^\mu + \partial^\mu f, where \partial^\mu is the four-gradient and f is a harmonic scalar function (that is, a scalar function satisfying \partial_\mu\partial^\mu f = 0, the equation of a massless scalar field). The Lorenz condition is used to eliminate the redundant spin-0 component in the representation theory of the Lorentz group. It is equally used for massive spin-1 fields where the concept of gauge transformations does not apply at all. Description In electromagnetism, the Lorenz condition is generally used in calculations of time-depend ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gauge Theory
In physics, a gauge theory is a type of field theory in which the Lagrangian (and hence the dynamics of the system itself) does not change (is invariant) under local transformations according to certain smooth families of operations ( Lie groups). The term ''gauge'' refers to any specific mathematical formalism to regulate redundant degrees of freedom in the Lagrangian of a physical system. The transformations between possible gauges, called ''gauge transformations'', form a Lie group—referred to as the '' symmetry group'' or the ''gauge group'' of the theory. Associated with any Lie group is the Lie algebra of group generators. For each group generator there necessarily arises a corresponding field (usually a vector field) called the ''gauge field''. Gauge fields are included in the Lagrangian to ensure its invariance under the local group transformations (called ''gauge invariance''). When such a theory is quantized, the quanta of the gauge fields are called ''gauge b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Four-current
In special and general relativity, the four-current (technically the four-current density) is the four-dimensional analogue of the electric current density. Also known as vector current, it is used in the geometric context of ''four-dimensional spacetime'', rather than three-dimensional space and time separately. Mathematically it is a four-vector, and is Lorentz covariant. Analogously, it is possible to have any form of "current density", meaning the flow of a quantity per unit time per unit area. see current density for more on this quantity. This article uses the summation convention for indices. See covariance and contravariance of vectors for background on raised and lowered indices, and raising and lowering indices on how to switch between them. Definition Using the Minkowski metric \eta_ of metric signature , the four-current components are given by: :J^\alpha = \left(c \rho, j^1 , j^2 , j^3 \right) = \left(c \rho, \mathbf \right) where ''c'' is the speed of light, ' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lorentz Transformations
In physics, the Lorentz transformations are a six-parameter family of linear transformations from a coordinate frame in spacetime to another frame that moves at a constant velocity relative to the former. The respective inverse transformation is then parameterized by the negative of this velocity. The transformations are named after the Dutch physicist Hendrik Lorentz. The most common form of the transformation, parametrized by the real constant v, representing a velocity confined to the -direction, is expressed as \begin t' &= \gamma \left( t - \frac \right) \\ x' &= \gamma \left( x - v t \right)\\ y' &= y \\ z' &= z \end where and are the coordinates of an event in two frames with the origins coinciding at 0, where the primed frame is seen from the unprimed frame as moving with speed along the -axis, where is the speed of light, and \gamma = \left ( \sqrt\right )^ is the Lorentz factor. When speed is much smaller than , the Lorentz factor is negligibly different from ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lorentz Covariance
In relativistic physics, Lorentz symmetry or Lorentz invariance, named after the Dutch physicist Hendrik Lorentz, is an equivalence of observation or observational symmetry due to special relativity implying that the laws of physics stay the same for all observers that are moving with respect to one another within an inertial frame. It has also been described as "the feature of nature that says experimental results are independent of the orientation or the boost velocity of the laboratory through space". Lorentz covariance, a related concept, is a property of the underlying spacetime manifold. Lorentz covariance has two distinct, but closely related meanings: # A physical quantity is said to be Lorentz covariant if it transforms under a given representation of the Lorentz group. According to the representation theory of the Lorentz group, these quantities are built out of scalars, four-vectors, four-tensors, and spinors. In particular, a Lorentz covariant scalar (e.g., the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maxwell's Equations
Maxwell's equations, or Maxwell–Heaviside equations, are a set of coupled partial differential equations that, together with the Lorentz force law, form the foundation of classical electromagnetism, classical optics, and electric circuits. The equations provide a mathematical model for electric, optical, and radio technologies, such as power generation, electric motors, wireless communication, lenses, radar etc. They describe how electric and magnetic fields are generated by charges, currents, and changes of the fields.''Electric'' and ''magnetic'' fields, according to the theory of relativity, are the components of a single electromagnetic field. The equations are named after the physicist and mathematician James Clerk Maxwell, who, in 1861 and 1862, published an early form of the equations that included the Lorentz force law. Maxwell first used the equations to propose that light is an electromagnetic phenomenon. The modern form of the equations in their most common formu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Second
The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of Units ( SI) is more precise:The second ..is defined by taking the fixed numerical value of the caesium frequency, Δ''ν''Cs, the unperturbed ground-state hyperfine transition frequency of the caesium 133 atom, to be when expressed in the unit Hz, which is equal to s−1. This current definition was adopted in 1967 when it became feasible to define the second based on fundamental properties of nature with caesium clocks. Because the speed of Earth's rotation varies and is slowing ever so slightly, a leap second is added at irregular intervals to civil time to keep clocks in sync with Earth's rotation. Uses Analog clocks and watches often ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Inertial Frame Of Reference
In classical physics and special relativity, an inertial frame of reference (also called inertial reference frame, inertial frame, inertial space, or Galilean reference frame) is a frame of reference that is not undergoing any acceleration. It is a frame in which an isolated physical object — an object with zero net force acting on it — is perceived to move with a constant velocity (it might be a zero velocity) or, equivalently, it is a frame of reference in which Newton's first law of motion holds. All inertial frames are in a state of constant, rectilinear motion with respect to one another; in other words, an accelerometer moving with any of them would detect zero acceleration. It has been observed that celestial objects which are far away from other objects and which are in uniform motion with respect to the cosmic microwave background radiation maintain such uniform motion. Measurements in one inertial frame can be converted to measurements in another by a si ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
