A hierarchy of approximate models for the Maxwell equations (Q1923294)

The authors consider approximate solutions of Maxwell's equations when the ratio \(\varepsilon\) of characteristic velocity of the system is small compared with the velocity of light. They reduce everything to a dimensionless form and obtain a variational formulation for the electromagnetic equations. This is associated with a formulation in terms of an abstract space and an expansion in terms of powers of \(\varepsilon\) is discussed, together with error estimates. The quasi-static and Darwin models appear as first- and second-order approximations of Maxwell's equations. No actual example of the utility of the methods discussed is given.