B.Thide - Electromagnetic Field Theory

The direct method An alternative to the differential operator transformation technique just described is to try to express all quantities in the potentials directly in t and x. An example of such a quantity is the retarded relative distance s(t0;x). According to Equation (8.64) on page 126, the square of this retarded relative distance can be written

Furthermore, from Equation (8.82) on page 131, we obtain the following identity:

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where in the penultimate step we used Equation (8.82) on page 131.

What we have just demonstrated is that, in the case the particle velocity at time t can be calculated or projected, the retarded distance s in the LiénardWiechert potentials (8.63) can be expressed in terms of the virtual simultaneous coordinate x0(t), viz., the point at which the particle will have arrived at time t, i.e., when we obtain the first knowledge of its existence at the source point x0 at the retarded time t0, and in the field coordinate x(t), where we make our observations. We have, in other words, shown that all quantities in the definition of s, and hence s itself, can, when the motion of the charge is somehow known, be expressed in terms of the time t alone. I.e., in this special case we are able to express the retarded relative distance as s = s(t;x) and we do not have to involve the retarded time t0 or transformed differential operators in our calculations.

Taking the square root of both sides of Equation (8.94) on the preceding page, we obtain the following alternative final expressions for the retarded relative distance s in terms of the charge's virtual simultaneous coordinate x0(t):

Using Equation (8.95c) above and standard vector analytic formulae, we obtain

which we shall use in the following example of a uniformly, unaccelerated motion of the charge.

EXAMPLE 8.1 BTHE FIELDS FROM A UNIFORMLY MOVING CHARGE

In the special case of uniform motion, the localised charge moves in a field-free, isol-

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ated space and we know that it will not be affected by any external forces. It will therefore move uniformly in a straight line with the constant velocity v. This gives us the possibility to extrapolate its position at the observation time, x0(t), from its position at the retarded time, x0(t0). Since the particle is not accelerated, v˙ 0, the virtual simultaneous coordinate x0 will be identical to the actual simultaneous coordinate of the particle at time t, i.e., x0(t) = x0(t). As depicted in Figure 8.7 on page 128, the angle between x x0 and v is 0 while then angle between x x0 and v is 0.

We note that in the case of uniform velocity v, time and space derivatives are closely related in the following way when they operate on functions of x(t) :

Hence, the E and B fields can be obtained from Formulae (8.66) on page 127, with the potentials given by Equations (8.63) on page 126 as follows:

= c2 E

From Equation (8.63a) on page 126 and Equation (8.96) on the facing page we find that

When this expression for r is inserted into Equation (8.98a) above, the following result

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follows. Of course, the same result also follows from Equation (8.83) on page 132 with v˙ 0 inserted.

From Equation (8.100) above we conclude that E is directed along the vector from the simultaneous coordinate x0(t) to the field (observation) coordinate x(t). In a similar way, the magnetic field can be calculated and one finds that

From these explicit formulae for the E and B fields we can discern the following cases:

1.v ! 0 ) E goes over into the Coulomb field ECoulomb

2.v ! 0 ) B goes over into the Biot-Savart field

3.v ! c ) E becomes dependent on 0

4.v ! c;sin 0 0 ) E ! (1 v2=c2)ECoulomb

5.v ! c;sin 0 1 ) E ! (1 v2=c2) 1=2ECoulomb

END OF EXAMPLE 8.1C

EXAMPLE 8.2 BTHE CONVECTION POTENTIAL AND THE CONVECTION FORCE

Let us consider in more detail the treatment of the radiation from a uniformly moving rigid charge distribution.

If we return to the original definition of the potentials and the inhomogeneous wave equation, Formula (3.19) on page 43, for a generic potential component (t;x) and a generic source component f (t;x),

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i.e., in a time-independent form. Transforming

x1

(8.104a)

1 v2=c2

(8.104b)

(8.104c)

def

and introducing the vectorial nabla operator in space, r (@=@ 1;@=@ 2;@=@ 3), the time-independent equation (8.103) reduces to an ordinary Poisson equation

p

Applying this to the explicit scalar and vector potential components, realising that for a rigid charge distribution moving with velocity v the current is given by j = v, we obtain

which we recognise as the Liénard-Wiechert potentials; cf. Equations (8.63) on page 126. We notice, however, that the derivation here, based on a mathematical technique which in fact is a Lorentz transformation, is of more general validity than the one leading to Equations (8.63) on page 126.

Let us now consider the action of the fields produced from a moving, rigid charge distribution represented by q0 moving with velocity v, on a charged particle q, also

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moving with velocity v. This force is given by the Lorentz force

With the help of Equation (8.101) on page 136 and Equations (8.109) on the preceding page, and the fact that @t = v r [cf.. Formula (8.97) on page 135], we can rewrite expression (8.111) as

When the rigid charge distribution is well localised so that we can use the potentials (8.110) the convection potential becomes

The convection potential from a point charge is constant on flattened ellipsoids of revolution, defined through Equation (8.108) on the preceding page as

p

= 2(x1 x01)2 +(x2 x02)2 +(x3 x03)2 = Const

These Heaviside ellipsoids are equipotential surfaces, and since the force is proportional to the gradient of , which means that it is perpendicular to the ellipsoid surface, the force between two charges is in general not directed along the line which connects the charges. A consequence of this is that a system consisting of two comoving charges connected with a rigid bar, will experience a torque. This is the idea behind the Trouton-Noble experiment, aimed at measuring the absolute speed of the earth or the galaxy. The negative outcome of this experiment is explained by the special theory of relativity which postulates that mechanical laws follow the same rules as electromagnetic laws, so that a compensating torque appears due to mechanical stresses within the charge-bar system.

END OF EXAMPLE 8.2C

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Radiation for small velocities

If the charge moves at such low speeds that v=c 1, Formula (8.64) on page 126 simplifies to

and Formula (8.82) on page 131

so that the radiation field Equation (8.87) on page 132 can be approximated by

from which we obtain, with the use of Formula (8.86) on page 132, the magnetic field

It is interesting to note the close correspondence which exists between the nonrelativistic fields (8.120) and (8.121) and the electric dipole field Equations (8.43) on page 121 if we introduce

The power flux in the far zone is described by the Poynting vector as a function of Erad and Brad. We use the close correspondence with the dipole case to find that it becomes

where is the angle between v˙ and x x0. The total radiated power (integrated over a closed spherical surface) becomes

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which is the Larmor formula for radiated power from an accelerated charge. Note that here we are treating a charge with v c but otherwise totally unspecified motion while we compare with formulae derived for a stationary oscillating dipole. The electric and magnetic fields, Equation (8.120) on the preceding page and Equation (8.121) on the previous page, respectively, and the expressions for the Poynting flux and power derived from them, are here instantaneous values, dependent on the instantaneous position of the charge at x0(t0). The angular distribution is that which is “frozen” to the point from which the energy is radiated.

8.3.3 Bremsstrahlung

An important special case of radiation is when the velocity v and the acceleration v˙ are collinear (parallel or anti-parallel) so that v v˙ = 0. This condition (for an arbitrary magnitude of v) inserted into expression (8.87) on page 132 for the radiation field, yields

from which we obtain, with the use of Formula (8.86) on page 132, the magnetic field

The difference between this case and the previous case of v c is that the approximate expression (8.118) on the preceding page for s is no longer valid; we must instead use the correct expression (8.64) on page 126. The angular distribution of the power flux (Poynting vector) therefore becomes

It is interesting to note that the magnitudes of the electric and magnetic fields are the same whether v and v˙ are parallel or anti-parallel.

We must be careful when we compute the energy (S integrated over time). The Poynting vector is related to the time t when it is measured and to a fixed surface in space. The radiated power into a solid angle element d , measured relative to the particle's retarded position, is given by the formula

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v = 0:5c

v = 0:25c

v = 0

v

FIGURE 8.8: Polar diagram of the energy loss angular distribution factor sin2 =(1 v cos =c)5 during bremsstrahlung for particle speeds v =0, v = 0:25c, and v = 0:5c.

On the other hand, the radiation loss due to radiation from the charge at retarded time t0 :

Inserting Equation (8.128) on the preceding page for S into (8.131), we obtain the explicit expression for the energy loss due to radiation evaluated at the retarded time

The angular factors of this expression, for three different particle speeds, are plotted in Figure 8.8.

Comparing expression (8.129) on the preceding page with expression (8.132), we see that they differ by a factor 1 v cos=c which comes from the extra factor s=jx x0j introduced in (8.131). Let us explain this in geometrical terms.

During the interval (t0;t0 +dt0) and within the solid angle element d the particle radiates an energy [dUrad( )=dt0] dt0d . As shown in 8.9 this energy

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dS

dr

x d

FIGURE 8.9: Location of radiation between two spheres as the charge moves with velocity v from x01 to x02 during the time interval (t0;t0 +dt0).

The observation point (field point) is at the fixed location x.

is at time t located between two spheres, one outer with its origin in x01(t0) and

one inner with its origin in x01(t0 +dt0) =x01(t0) +vdt and radius c[t (t0+dt0)] = c(t t0 dt0).

From Figure 8.9 we see that the volume element subtending the solid angle element

Here, dr denotes the differential distance between the two spheres and can be evaluated in the following way

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