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Incompressible Vector Field
In vector calculus a solenoidal vector field (also known as an incompressible vector field, a divergence-free vector field, or a transverse vector field) is a vector field v with divergence zero at all points in the field: \nabla \cdot \mathbf = 0. A common way of expressing this property is to say that the field has no sources or sinks.This statement does not mean that the field lines of a solenoidal field must be closed, neither that they cannot begin or end. For a detailed discussion of the subject, see J. Slepian: "Lines of Force in Electric and Magnetic Fields", American Journal of Physics, vol. 19, pp. 87-90, 1951, and L. Zilberti: "The Misconception of Closed Magnetic Flux Lines", IEEE Magnetics Letters, vol. 8, art. 1306005, 2017. Properties The divergence theorem gives an equivalent integral definition of a solenoidal field; namely that for any closed surface, the net total flux through the surface must be zero: where d\mathbf is the outward normal to each surface el ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gauss's Law For Magnetism
In physics, Gauss's law for magnetism is one of the four Maxwell's equations that underlie classical electrodynamics. It states that the magnetic field has divergence equal to zero, in other words, that it is a solenoidal vector field. It is equivalent to the statement that magnetic monopoles do not exist. Rather than "magnetic charges", the basic entity for magnetism is the magnetic dipole. (If monopoles were ever found, the law would have to be modified, as elaborated below.) Gauss's law for magnetism can be written in two forms, a ''differential form'' and an ''integral form''. These forms are equivalent due to the divergence theorem. The name "Gauss's law for magnetism" is not universally used. The law is also called "Absence of free magnetic poles". It is also referred to as the "transversality requirement" because for plane waves it requires that the polarization be transverse to the direction of propagation. Differential form The differential form for Gauss' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Conservative Vector Field
In vector calculus, a conservative vector field is a vector field that is the gradient of some function. A conservative vector field has the property that its line integral is path independent; the choice of path between two points does not change the value of the line integral. Path independence of the line integral is equivalent to the vector field under the line integral being conservative. A conservative vector field is also irrotational; in three dimensions, this means that it has vanishing curl. An irrotational vector field is necessarily conservative provided that the domain is simply connected. Conservative vector fields appear naturally in mechanics: They are vector fields representing forces of physical systems in which energy is conserved. For a conservative system, the work done in moving along a path in a configuration space depends on only the endpoints of the path, so it is possible to define potential energy that is independent of the actual path taken. Inform ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stream Function
In fluid dynamics, two types of stream function (or streamfunction) are defined: * The two-dimensional (or Lagrange) stream function, introduced by Joseph Louis Lagrange in 1781, is defined for incompressible flow, incompressible (divergence-free), two-dimensional fluid flow, flows. * The Stokes stream function, named after George Gabriel Stokes, is defined for incompressible, three-dimensional flows with axisymmetry. The properties of stream functions make them useful for analyzing and graphically illustrating flows. The remainder of this article describes the two-dimensional stream function. Two-dimensional stream function Assumptions The two-dimensional stream function is based on the following assumptions: * The flow field can be described as two-dimensional plane flow, with velocity vector : \quad \mathbf = \begin u (x,y,t) \\ v (x,y,t) \\ 0 \end. * The velocity satisfies the continuity equation for incompressible flow: : \quad \nabla \cdot \mathbf = 0. * The domain h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Longitudinal And Transverse Vector Fields
In physics and mathematics, the Helmholtz decomposition theorem or the fundamental theorem of vector calculus states that certain differentiable vector fields can be resolved into the sum of an irrotational (curl-free) vector field and a solenoidal (divergence-free) vector field. In physics, often only the decomposition of sufficiently smooth, rapidly decaying vector fields in three dimensions is discussed. It is named after Hermann von Helmholtz. Definition For a vector field \mathbf \in C^1(V, \mathbb^n) defined on a domain V \subseteq \mathbb^n, a Helmholtz decomposition is a pair of vector fields \mathbf \in C^1(V, \mathbb^n) and \mathbf \in C^1(V, \mathbb^n) such that: \begin \mathbf(\mathbf) &= \mathbf(\mathbf) + \mathbf(\mathbf), \\ \mathbf(\mathbf) &= - \nabla \Phi(\mathbf), \\ \nabla \cdot \mathbf(\mathbf) &= 0. \end Here, \Phi \in C^2(V, \mathbb) is a scalar potential, \nabla \Phi is its gradient, and \nabla \cdot \mathbf is the divergence of the vector field \mat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Magnetic Vector Potential
In classical electromagnetism, magnetic vector potential (often denoted A) is the vector quantity defined so that its curl is equal to the magnetic field, B: \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 independently introduced by Franz Ernst Neumann and Wilhelm Eduard Weber in 1845 and in 1846, respectively to discuss Ampère's circuital law. William Thomson also introduced the modern version of the vector potential in 1847, along with the formula relating it to the magnetic field. Unit conventions This article uses the SI system. In the SI system, the units of A are ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Current Density
In electromagnetism, current density is the amount of charge per unit time that flows through a unit area of a chosen cross section. The current density vector is defined as a vector whose magnitude is the electric current per cross-sectional area at a given point in space, its direction being that of the motion of the positive charges at this point. In SI base units, the electric current density is measured in amperes per square metre. Definition Assume that (SI unit: m2) is a small surface centered at a given point and orthogonal to the motion of the charges at . If (SI unit: A) is the electric current flowing through , then electric current density at is given by the limit: j = \lim_ \frac = \left.\frac \_, with surface remaining centered at and orthogonal to the motion of the charges during the limit process. The current density vector is the vector whose magnitude is the electric current density, and whose direction is the same as the motion of the positiv ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Electric Field
An electric field (sometimes called E-field) is a field (physics), physical field that surrounds electrically charged particles such as electrons. In classical electromagnetism, the electric field of a single charge (or group of charges) describes their capacity to exert attractive or repulsive forces on another charged object. Charged particles exert attractive forces on each other when the sign of their charges are opposite, one being positive while the other is negative, and repel each other when the signs of the charges are the same. Because these forces are exerted mutually, two charges must be present for the forces to take place. These forces are described by Coulomb's law, which says that the greater the magnitude of the charges, the greater the force, and the greater the distance between them, the weaker the force. Informally, the greater the charge of an object, the stronger its electric field. Similarly, an electric field is stronger nearer charged objects and weaker f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vorticity
In continuum mechanics, vorticity is a pseudovector (or axial vector) field that describes the local spinning motion of a continuum near some point (the tendency of something to rotate), as would be seen by an observer located at that point and traveling along with the flow. It is an important quantity in the dynamical theory of fluids and provides a convenient framework for understanding a variety of complex flow phenomena, such as the formation and motion of vortex rings. Mathematically, the vorticity \boldsymbol is the curl of the flow velocity \mathbf v: :\boldsymbol \equiv \nabla \times \mathbf v\,, where \nabla is the nabla operator. Conceptually, \boldsymbol could be determined by marking parts of a continuum in a small neighborhood of the point in question, and watching their ''relative'' displacements as they move along the flow. The vorticity \boldsymbol would be twice the mean angular velocity vector of those particles relative to their center of mass, orie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Incompressible Fluid Flow
In fluid mechanics, or more generally continuum mechanics, incompressible flow is a flow in which the material density does not vary over time. Equivalently, the divergence of an incompressible flow velocity is zero. Under certain conditions, the flow of compressible fluids can be modelled as incompressible flow to a good approximation. Derivation The fundamental requirement for incompressible flow is that the density, \rho , is constant within a small element volume, ''dV'', which moves at the flow velocity u. Mathematically, this constraint implies that the material derivative (discussed below) of the density must vanish to ensure incompressible flow. Before introducing this constraint, we must apply the conservation of mass to generate the necessary relations. The mass is calculated by a volume integral of the density, \rho : : = . The conservation of mass requires that the time derivative of the mass inside a control volume be equal to the mass flux, J, across it ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Material Derivative
In continuum mechanics, the material derivative describes the time rate of change of some physical quantity (like heat or momentum) of a material element that is subjected to a space-and-time-dependent macroscopic velocity field. The material derivative can serve as a link between Eulerian and Lagrangian descriptions of continuum deformation. For example, in fluid dynamics, the velocity field is the flow velocity, and the quantity of interest might be the temperature of the fluid. In this case, the material derivative then describes the temperature change of a certain fluid parcel with time, as it flows along its pathline (trajectory). Other names There are many other names for the material derivative, including: *advective derivative *convective derivative *derivative following the motion *hydrodynamic derivative *Lagrangian derivative *particle derivative *substantial derivative *substantive derivative *Stokes derivative *total derivative, although the material derivati ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Magnetic Field
A magnetic field (sometimes called B-field) is a physical field that describes the magnetic influence on moving electric charges, electric currents, and magnetic materials. A moving charge in a magnetic field experiences a force perpendicular to its own velocity and to the magnetic field. A permanent magnet's magnetic field pulls on ferromagnetic materials such as iron, and attracts or repels other magnets. In addition, a nonuniform magnetic field exerts minuscule forces on "nonmagnetic" materials by three other magnetic effects: paramagnetism, diamagnetism, and antiferromagnetism, although these forces are usually so small they can only be detected by laboratory equipment. Magnetic fields surround magnetized materials, electric currents, and electric fields varying in time. Since both strength and direction of a magnetic field may vary with location, it is described mathematically by a function (mathematics), function assigning a Euclidean vector, vector to each point of space, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
