The correct and unusual coordinate transformation rules for electromagnetic quadrupoles

DOI10.1098/RSPA.2017.0652MaRDI QIDQ4557692zbMATH OpenOpenAlexWikidataFDO

Authors Jonathan Gratus, T. Banaszek

Publication date 26 November 2018

Published in Proceedings 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/1804.05048

zbMATH Keywords

tensor distributionsde Rham currentscoordinate free approachpre-metric electromagnetismmultiple expansionselectric quadrupoles

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Electromagnetic theory (general) (78A25)

Abstract: Despite being studied for over a century, the use of quadrupoles have been limited to Cartesian coordinates in flat spacetime due to the incorrect transformation rules used to define them. Here the correct transformation rules are derived, which are particularly unusual as they involve second derivatives of the coordinate transformation and an integral. Transformations involving integrals have not been seen before. This is significantly different from the familiar transformation rules for a dipole, where the components transform as tensors. It enables quadrupoles to be correctly defined in general relativity and to prescribe the equations of motion for a quadrupole in a coordinate system adapted to its motion and then transform them to the laboratory coordinates. An example is given of another unusual feature: a quadrupole which is free of dipole terms in polar coordinates has dipole terms in Cartesian coordinates. It is shown that dipoles, electric dipoles, quadrupoles and electric quadrupoles can be defined without reference to a metric and in a coordinates free manner. This is particularly useful given their complicated coordinate transformation.

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Cites work

• scientific article; zbMATH DE number 2126324 (Why is no real title available?)
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• Maxwell equations in nonuniformly moving media
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• Surprises in the multipole description of macroscopic electrodynamics
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• Maxwell-Lorentz without self-interactions: conservation of energy and momentum
• The tensorial representation of the distributional stress–energy quadrupole and its dynamics
• The distributional stress–energy quadrupole
• Direct methods: the identification of conditions which simplify the generation of inconsistent quadrupoles

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