A derivation of Maxwell's equations using the Heaviside notation

DOI10.1098/RSTA.2017.0447MaRDI QIDQ4626218zbMATH OpenOpenAlexWikidataFDO

Authors Damian P. Hampshire

Publication date 27 February 2019

Published in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences (Search for Journal in Brave)

Copyright license Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International

Full work available at URL https://arxiv.org/abs/1510.04309

zbMATH Keywords

Ampere's lawcharge conservationCoulomb's lawelectromagnetismHeavisideMaxwell's equations

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Electromagnetic theory (general) (78A25)

Abstract: Maxwell's four differential equations describing electromagnetism are amongst the most famous equations in science. Feynman said that they provide four of the seven fundamental laws of classical physics. In this paper, we derive Maxwell's equations using a well-established approach for deriving time-dependent differential equations from static laws. The derivation uses the standard Heaviside notation. It assumes conservation of charge and that Coulomb's law of electrostatics and Ampere's law of magnetostatics are both correct as a function of time when they are limited to describing a local system. It is analogous to deriving the differential equation of motion for sound, assuming conservation of mass and that Hooke's static law of elasticity holds for a system in local equilibrium. We demonstrate that Faraday's law can be derived without any relativistic assumptions about Lorentz invariance and discuss creation of charge.

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• scientific article; zbMATH DE number 1306464 (Why is no real title available?)
• scientific article; zbMATH DE number 2209169 (Why is no real title available?)
• On Helmholtz's theorem in multiply-bounded and multiply-connected regions

Cited in

(12)

• An axiomatic approach to Maxwell's equations
• Comment on `Lorentz covariance `almost' implies electromagnetism and more'
• Can Maxwell's equations be obtained from the continuity equation?
• Deduction of Maxwell field equation from Lorentz force law without using the STR
• Derivation of Maxwell's equations based on a continuum mechanical model of vacuum and a singularity model of electric charges
• scientific article; zbMATH DE number 4054195 (Why is no real title available?)
• scientific article; zbMATH DE number 4073899 (Why is no real title available?)
• Presenting electromagnetic theory in accordance with the principle of causality
• On Maxwell's discovery of electromagnetic waves and the gauge condition
• Maxwell’s equations as mechanical law
• Maxwell’s equations revisited – mental imagery and mathematical symbols
• How to get from static to dynamic electromagnetism

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