Relation between charge and energy conservation in a nonlinear electrodynamics (Q578698)

A new mathematical formulation of electrodynamics is presented in which the field equations and the conservation law for the energy-momentum tensor appear as the components of a single geometric object. The construction is based upon a geometric structure on the 2-forms over an even-dimensional vector space that parallels a geometric structure on 1- forms over \({\mathbb{R}}^ 4\) determined by special relativity. In this construction charge appears as the analog of mass. In special relativity the conservation of mass implies the relation \((d/dt)e=<f,v>\); here the conservation of charge implies the relation div E\(=i(J)F\), when the energy-momentum tensor E and field strength F are given a ``relativistic'' interpretation.