A conventional general electromagnetic force definition has been widely used to analyze radiation forces in dielectric media in published research works. However in this paper, we would like to indicate that this conventional force definition is flawed.
Abraham forces are defined as electromagnetic forces on neutral objects caused by the presence of slow, time-dependent, homogeneous electromagnetic fields. Only a few experimental observations have been reported, and different formulations exist in literature. The ``standard" Abraham force is usually associated with the full derivative $\partial_t(\mathbf{E} \times \mathbf{B})$ of homogeneous electric and magnetic fields. We show that this full derivative is wrong in general, since the classical Maxwell theory contains subtle induced-dipole forces that contribute to the Abraham force, which th…
Critical experimental tests of the time-dependent Abraham force in phenomenological electrodynamics are scarce. In this paper we analyze the possibility of making use of intensity-modulated whispering gallery modes in a microresonator for this purpose. Systems of this kind appear attractive, as the strong concentration of electromagnetic fields near the rim of the resonator serves to enhance the Abraham torque exerted by the field. We analyze mainly spherical resonators, although as an introductory step we consider also the cylinder geometry. The order of magnitude of the Abraham torques are e…
We report quantitative experimental measurements of the Abraham force associated with a propagating optical wave. We isolate this force using a guided light wave undergoing an adiabatic mode transformation (AMT) along a liquid-filled hollow optical fiber (HOF). Utilizing this light intensity distribution within the liquid, we were able to generate a time-averaged non-vanishing Abraham force density, while simultaneously suppressing the Abraham-Minkowski force density. The incident laser field induced a linear axial displacement of the air-liquid interface inside the HOF, which provided a direc…
The Abraham force exerted by a time-dependent electromagnetic field on neutral, polarizable matter has two contributions. The one induced by a time-varying magnetic field and a static electric field is reported here for the first time. We discuss our results in the context of the radiative momentum in matter. Our observations are consistent with Abraham's and Nelson's versions for radiative momentum.
The Abraham momentum of electromagnetic field represents the decomposition property into real-valued orbital and spin contributions. However, we found that the orbital and spin momenta of evanescent electromagnetic fields are inherently complex. Consequently, the decomposition of Abraham momentum was reexamined and the exact expressions of orbital and spin momenta were obtained, which are applicable to both propagating and evanescent electromagnetic fields. Furthermore, we also justified the newly-derived decomposition of Abraham momentum for lossy media, which was further demonstrated by a co…
Abraham's force seems to have been observed in very low frequency experiments, but the existence of an Abraham's force exerted by light is still to be proved. Twenty years ago Brevik proposed an experiment for checking what forces light exert in the interior of a transparent medium. It is argued that his proposal is feasible today with a detection method now at hand, thanks to the great improvements achieved in manufacturing optical fibres with the required physical properties.
For over a century, two rival descriptions of electromagnetic field momentum in matter have co-existed, due to Abraham and Minkowski, respectively. We propose a set-up for measuring the difference between Abraham's and Minkowski's predictions in optics. To wit, a set-up is proposed in which the transient "Abraham force", a consequence of the Abraham energy-momentum tensor of 1909 may be measured directly. We show that when a train of short laser pulses is sent through a fiber wound up on a cylindrical drum, the Abraham theory predicts a torque which, by inserting realistic parameters, is found…
After more than a century of debate, there remains continuing discomfort over what is the correct expression for the electromagnetic momentum in a dielectric medium. This is the so-called the Minkowski-Abraham controversy. We show that there is indeed a consistent picture for the electromagnetic momentum associated with waves in a dielectric, but one must start with the fields E and B, not D and H as fundamental objects. The momentum flow is described by a tensor T^EB, where the expression is identical to that in vacuum. The Minkowski tensor and the Abraham force result from a fractured decomp…
Interconnection of alternative equations of conservation of the momentum related with different interpretations of equations of the electromagnetic field is an essential aspect of the Abraham-Minkowski controversy, which is associated in the first place with rivalry of alternative definitions of optical momentum of the electromagnetic wave in a medium. Assuming significance of alternative equations of momentum conservation in accord with their interconnection, potential functional equivalence of alternative descriptions of optical momentum is examined in the context of the radiation pressure. …
The momentum of light inside ponderable media has an electromagnetic part and a mechanical part. The local and instantaneous density of the electromagnetic part of the momentum is given by the Poynting vector divided by the square of the speed of light in vacuum, irrespective of the nature of the electromagnetic fields or the local or global properties of the material media. The mechanical part of the momentum is associated with the action of the electromagnetic field on the atomic constituents of the media, as specified by the Lorentz law of force. Proper interpretation and application of the…
The problem of assigning a momentum to an electromagnetic wave packet propagating inside an insulator has become known under the name of the Abraham-Minkowski controversy. In the present paper we re-examine the question, first through a power expansion in the polarizability of the medium and assuming the simplest and most natural choice for the force exerted on a dielectric material by an electromagnetic field. It is shown that the Abraham expression is highly favoured. We then show the complete generality of these results.
In the more than 100 years-old Abraham-Minkowski problem in macroscopic electrodynamics, the issue of how to observe the so-called Abraham term ${\bf f}^{\rm Aterm} = [(\varepsilonμ-1)/c^2] \partial/\partial t ({\bf E}\times {\bf H})$ has been a main point. Recent years have seen a number of beautiful experiments in radiation optics, but these experiments usually give no information about the Abraham term as this term simply fluctuates out. So one is left with somewhat indirect verifications of this force, as in the radiation pressure of Jones {et al.} in the 1950's, testing the radiation pres…
When the effects of dispersion are included, neither the Abraham nor the Minkowski expression for electromagnetic momentum in a dielectric medium gives the correct recoil momentum for absorbers or emitters of radiation. The total momentum density associated with a field in a dielectric medium has three contributions: (i) the Abraham momentum density of the field, (ii) the momentum density associated with the Abraham force, and (iii) a momentum density arising from the dispersive part of the response of the medium to the field, the latter having a form evidently first derived by D.F. Nelson [Ph…
A discussion is given on the interpretation and physical importance of the Minkowski momentum in macroscopic electrodynamics (essential for the Abraham-Minkowski problem). We focus on the following two facets: (1) Adopting a simple dielectric model where the refractive index $n$ is constant, we demonstrate by means of a mapping procedure how the electromagnetic field in a medium can be mapped into a corresponding field in vacuum. This mapping was presented many years ago [I. Brevik and B. Lautrup, Mat. Fys. Medd. Dan. Vid. Selsk {\bf 38}(1), 1 (1970)], but is apparently not well known. A chara…
A symmetric and conserved energy-momentum tensor for a scalar field in a moving medium is derived using the Gordon metric. When applied to an electromagnetic field, the method gives a similar result. This approach thus points a way out of the old Abraham-Minkowski controversy about the correct energy-momentum tensors for the electromagnetic field in a material medium. The new tensor describes the properties of the field while the Abraham tensor contains information about the field coupled to the medium.
This memo contains a collection of formulas describing the electromagnetic energy, momentum and spin distribution of an optical field formed in dielectric media separated by a plane interface when an incident monochromatic plane wave is totally reflected. The formulas are based on the Abraham momentum definition and include the momentum decomposition into the orbital (canonical) and spin parts as well as explicit dual-symmetric separation of the electric and magnetic contributions. This material was prepared in February 2013 but it had not been finalized and published because of the difficulti…
When a micrometer-sized fluid droplet is illuminated by a laser pulse, there is a fundamental distinction between two cases. If the pulse is short in comparison with the transit time for sound across the droplet, the disruptive optical Abraham-Minkowski radiation force is countered by electrostriction and the net stress is compressive. In contrast, if the pulse is long on this scale, electrostriction is cancelled by elastic pressure and the surviving term of the electromagnetic force, the Abraham-Minkowski force, is disruptive and deforms the droplet. Ultrashort laser pulses are routinely used…
Maxwell's macroscopic equations combined with a generalized form of the Lorentz law of force are a complete and consistent set of equations. Not only are these five equations fully compatible with special relativity, they also conform with conservation laws of energy, momentum, and angular momentum. We demonstrate consistency with the conservation laws by showing that, when a beam of light enters a magnetic dielectric, a fraction of the incident linear (or angular) momentum pours into the medium at a rate determined by the Abraham momentum density, ExH/c^2, and the group velocity V_g of the el…
We derive an expression for the macroscopic force density that a narrow-band electromagnetic field imposes on a dissipative isotropic medium. The result is obtained by averaging the microscopic form for Lorentz force density. The derived expression allows us to calculate realistic electromagnetic forces in a wide range of materials that are described by complex-valued electric permittivity and magnetic permeability. The three-dimensional energy-momentum tensor in our expression reduces for lossless media to the so-called Helmholtz tensor that has not been contradicted in any experiment so far.…
Electromagnetic waves carry the Abraham momentum, whose density is given by p_EM = S(r,t)/c^2. Here S(r,t) = E(r,t)\timesH(r,t) is the Poynting vector at point r in space and instant t in time, E and H are the local electromagnetic fields, and c is the speed of light in vacuum. The above statement is true irrespective of whether the waves reside in vacuum or within a ponderable medium, which medium may or may not be homogeneous, isotropic, transparent, linear, magnetic, etc. When a light pulse enters an absorbing medium, the force experienced by the medium is only partly due to the absorbed Ab…
We discuss the origin of the Schott energy in the Abraham-Lorentz version of electrodynamic radiation theory and how it can be used to explain some apparent paradoxes. We also derive the generalization of this quantity for the Ford-O'Connell equation, which has the merit of being derived exactly from a microscopic Hamiltonian for an electron with structure and has been shown to be free of the problems associated with the Abraham-Lorentz theory. We emphasize that the instantaneous power supplied by the applied force not only gives rise to radiation (acceleration fields), but it can change the k…
As shown in the experiment of She {\it et al.} [Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 101}, 243601 (2008)], a weak laser beam sent through a vertically hanging fiber exerts a transverse force and produces a lateral displacement of the fiber's lower end. The experiment is of obvious theoretical interest in connection with the electromagnetic theory of media. Suggested explanations given for this effect in the past include the famous Abraham-Minkowski issue concerning the "correct" photon momentum in matter. In our opinion such an explanation can hardly be right. Instead, we propose instead a very simple descri…
The macroscopic equations of Maxwell combined with a generalized form of the Lorentz law are a complete and consistent set; not only are these five equations fully compatible with the special theory of relativity, they also conform with the conservation laws of energy, momentum, and angular momentum. The linear momentum density associated with the electromagnetic field is p_EM(r,t)=E(r,t)\timesH(r,t)/c^2, whether the field is in vacuum or in a ponderable medium. [Homogeneous, linear, isotropic media are typically specified by their electric and magnetic permeabilities epsilon_0*epsilon(w) and …
By using perturbation theory, we show that a hydrogen atom with magnetic moment due to the orbital angular momentum of the electron has "hidden momentum" in the presence of an external electric field. This means that the atomic electronic cloud has a nonzero linear momentum in its center-of-mass rest frame due to a relativistic effect. This is completely analogous to the hidden momentum that a classical current loop has in the presence of an external electric field. We discuss that this effect is essential for the validity of the Lorentz force law in quantum systems. We also connect our result…
We argue that the classical theory of electromagnetism is based on Maxwell's macroscopic equations, an energy postulate, a momentum postulate, and a generalized form of the Lorentz law of force. These seven postulates constitute the foundation of a complete and consistent theory, thus eliminating the need for actual (i.e., physical) models of polarization P and magnetization M, these being the distinguishing features of Maxwell's macroscopic equations. In the proposed formulation, P(r,t) and M(r,t) are arbitrary functions of space and time, their physical properties being embedded in the seven…
We examine the force of the electromagnetic radiation on linear, isotropic, homogeneous media specified in terms of their permittivity epsilon and permeability mu. A formula is proposed for the electromagnetic Lorentz force on the magnetization M, which is treated here as an Amperian current loop. Using the proposed formula, we demonstrate conservation of momentum in several cases that are amenable to rigorous analysis based on the classical Maxwell equations, the Lorentz law of force, and the constitutive relations. Our analysis yields precise expressions for the density of the electromagneti…
An important issue in phenomenological macroscopic electrodynamics of moving media is the definition of the energy and momentum of the electromagnetic field in matter. Rather surprisingly, this topic has demonstrated a remarkable longevity, and the problem of the electromagnetic energy and momentum in matter remained open, despite numerous theoretical and experimental investigations. We overview the definition of the momentum of light in matter and demonstrate that, for the correct understanding of the problem, one needs to carefully distinguish situations when the material medium is modeled e…
This article was published as Sec.4 of the "Roadmap on Structured Light" in Journal of Optics 19 (2017) 013001. Section 4 describes the essential elements of the classical theory of electromagnetic force and momentum.
We derive an exact expression for the radiation pressure of a quasi- monochromatic plane wave incident from the free space onto the flat surface of a semi-infinite dielectric medium. In order to account for the total optical momentum (incident plus reflected) that is transferred to the dielectric, the mechanical momentum acquired by the medium must be added to the rate of flow of the electromagnetic momentum (the so-called Abraham momentum) inside the dielectric. We confirm that the electromagnetic momentum travels with the group velocity of light inside the medium. The photon drag effect, in …
The force of electromagnetic radiation on a dielectric medium may be derived by a direct application of the Lorentz law of classical electrodynamics. While the light's electric field acts upon the (induced) bound charges in the medium, its magnetic field exerts a force on the bound currents. We use the example of a wedge-shaped solid dielectric, immersed in a transparent liquid and illuminated at Brewster's angle, to demonstrate that the linear momentum of the electromagnetic field within dielectrics has neither the Minkowski nor the Abraham form; rather, the correct expression for momentum de…