In 19th century Maxwell derived Maxwell equations from the knowledge of three experimental physical laws: the Coulomb's law, the Ampere's force law and Faraday's law of induction. However, theoretical basis for Ampere's force law and Faraday's law remains unknown to this day. Furthermore, the Lorentz force is considered as experimental phenomena, the theoretical foundation of this force is still unknown.
To answer these fundamental theoretical questions, we derive Lienard Wiechert potentials, Maxwell's equations and Lorentz force from two simple postulates: (a) when all charges are at rest the Coulomb's force acts between the charges, and (b) that disturbances caused by charge in motion propagate away from the source with finite velocity. The special relativity was not used in our derivations nor the Lorentz transformation. In effect, it was shown all the electrodynamic laws, including the Lorentz force, can be derived from Coulomb's law and time retardation.
This was accomplished by analysis of hypothetical experiment where test charge is at rest and where previously moving source charge stops at some time in the past. Then the generalized Helmholtz decomposition theorem, also derived in this paper, was applied to reformulate Coulomb's force acting at present time as the function of positions of source charge at previous time when the source charge was moving. From this reformulation of Coulomb's law the Lienard Wiechert potentials and Maxwell's equations were derived.
In the second part of this paper, the energy conservation principle valid for moving charges is derived from the knowledge of electrostatic energy conservation principle valid for stationary charges. This again was accomplished by using generalized Helmholtz decomposition theorem. From this dynamic energy conservation principle the Lorentz force is derived.
We present an elegant derivation of the Doppler factor in the Lienard-Wiechert potentials of an extended particle, based on a theorem authored by J. L. Synge and dealing with cross-sections through worldtubes.
A self-consistent consideration of the Lienard-Wiechert solition is given including its heuristic deduction, which involves a future light cone (thus the lightlike propagation of information from an arbitrarily moving pointlike charge), and physical interpretation of this field via application of three distinct reference frames (of an inertial observer, then a non-inertial one retardedly co-moving with the charged source, and finally, co-moving with the electromagnetic field). In the last frame the magnetic part of the Lienard-Wiechert field identically (though not asymptotically) vanishes in …
Retarded electromagnetic potentials are derived from Maxwell's equations and the Lorenz condition. The difference found between these potentials and the conventional Liénard-Wiechert ones is explained by neglect, for the latter, of the motion-dependence of the effective charge density. The corresponding retarded fields of a point-like charge in arbitary motion are compared with those given by the formulae of Heaviside, Feynman, Jefimenko and other authors. The fields of an accelerated charge given by the Feynman are the same as those derived from the Liénard-Wiechert potentials but not those g…
We present an in depth analysis and a new derivation of the Doppler factor in the Lienard-Wiechert potentials, based on geometrical considerations in Minkowski space. We argue that, contrary to a common assumption, the methods used for deriving the Doppler factor in the case of an electrically charged extended particle are not applicable in the case of a point particle. A geometrical interpretation of the Doppler factor is nonetheless found in the later case, based on the electromagnetic interaction model of Fokker. In this model the interaction takes place between infinitesimal worldline segm…
The complete charge-current density and field strength of an arbitrarily accelerated relativistic point-charge are explicitly calculated. That current includes, apart from the well-established delta-function term which is sufficient for its global conservation, additional contributions depending on the second and third proper-time derivatives of the position. These extra contributions are necessary for the local conservation of that current, whose divergence must vanish {identically} even if it is a distribution, as is the case here. Similarly, the field strength includes an additional delta-l…
Calculating the electromagnetic field of a uniformly accelerated charged particle is a surprisingly subtle problem that has been long discussed in the literature. While the correct field has been obtained many times and through various means, it remains somewhat unclear why the (supposedly general) field expression derived from the Liénard-Wiechert potentials misses some terms. We present new derivations of the missing field and potential terms by considering only pure hyperbolic motion, and we amend the offending step in the standard Liénard-Wiechert construction.
The aim of this paper is to investigate the fundamental problems of retardation and radiation caused by non-uniformly moving point sources using the theories of electrodynamics and elastodynamics. This paper investigates and compares the retarded electromagnetic fields and the retarded elastodynamic fields. For the non-uniform motion of a general point source, the Liénard-Wiechert type potentials and the radiation and nonradiation fields are derived for a point charge and for a point force.
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the fundamental problem of the non-uniform subsonic motion of a point force and line forces in an unbounded, homogeneous, isotropic medium in analogy to the electromagnetic Liénard-Wiechert potentials. The exact closed-form solutions of the displacement and elastic fields produced by the point force and line forces are calculated. The displacement fields can be identified with the elastodynamic Liénard-Wiechert tensor potentials. For a non-uniformly moving point force, we decompose the elastic fields into a radiation part and a non-radiation part. We…
The purpose of this paper is the fundamental theory of the non-uniform motion of dislocations in two and three space-dimensions. We investigate the non-uniform motion of an arbitrary distribution of dislocations, a dislocation loop and straight dislocations in infinite media using the theory of incompatible elastodynamics. The equations of motion are derived for non-uniformly moving dislocations. The retarded elastic fields produced by a distribution of dislocations and the retarded dislocation tensor potentials are determined. New fundamental key-formulae for the dynamics of dislocations are …
In the semiclassical approximation in which the electric charges of scalar particles are described by Grassmann variables ($Q_i^2=0, Q_iQ_j\ne 0$), it is possible to re-express the Lienard-Wiechert potentials and electric fields in the radiation gauge as phase space functions, because the difference among retarded, advanced, and symmetric Green functions is of order Q_i^2. By working in the rest-frame instant form of dynamics, the elimination of the electromagnetic degrees of freedom by means of suitable second classs contraints leads to the identification of the Lienard-Wiechert reduced phase…
It is assumed that the Lienard-Wiechert fields of an arbitrary moving charge is measured or predefined as a function of time. The position of the charge is calculated as a function of the retarded time.
We considered the electromagnetic field of a charge moving with a constant acceleration along an axis. We found that this field obtained from the Lienard-Wiechert potentials does not satisfy Maxwell equations.
The expression for the electromagnetic field of a charge moving along an arbitrary trajectory is obtained in a direct, elegant, and Lorentz invariant manner without resorting to more complicated procedures such as differentiation of the Lienard-Wiechert potentials. The derivation uses arguments based on Lorentz invariance and a physically transparent expression originally due to J.J.Thomson for the field of a charge that experiences an impulsive acceleration.
A Galilean invariant description of the retarded electric interaction of two moving charges is carried out, considering the EM action to propagate at the speed of light. Through the altering of the Liénard-Wiechert potential (LWP) a new retarded, electric potential called retarded Coulomb potential (RCP) is ordered to the moving charges. RCP depends on the velocities both of the interacting charges. The force law of the electric interaction of moving charges is determined by means of the second order approximation of RCP. The force law obtained is the Galilean invariant Webers force law, surpr…
The complete charge-current density and field strength of an arbitrarily accelerated relativistic point-charge are explicitly calculated. The current density includes, apart from the well-established three-dimensional delta-function which is sufficient for its global conservation, additional delta-contributions depending on the second and third proper-time derivatives of the position, which are necessary for its local conservation as required by the internal consistency of classical electrodynamics which implies that local charge-conservation is an {identity}. Similarly, the field strength inc…
We considered the electromagnetic field of a charge moving with a constant acceleration along an axis. We found that this field obtained from the Liénard-Wiechert potentials does not satisfy Maxwell equations if one considers exclusively a retarded interaction (i.e. pure implicit dependence this field on time). We show that if and only if one takes into account both retarded interaction and direct interaction (so called "action-at-a-distance") the field produced by an accelerated charge satisfies Maxwell equations.
Maxwell's electrodynamics postulates the finite propagation speed of electromagnetic (EM) action and the notion of EM fields, but it only satisfies the requirement of the covariance in Minkowski metric (Lorentz invariance). Darwin's force law of moving charges, which originates from Maxwell's field theory complies the Lorentz invariance as well. Poincaré's principle stating that physical laws can be formulated with identical meaning on different geometries suggest, that the retarded EM interaction of moving charges might be covariant even in Euclidean geometry (Galilean invariance). Keeping th…
The power radiated by a moving charge is given by Larmor's formula which can be derived by integrating the Liénard-Wiechert potential over the whole past history of the charge. However, extracting the same result from the Lorent-Abraham-Dirac (LAD) equation of motion is problematic. This is well known for uniform proper acceleration for which case the radiation force vanishes and hence the very origin of the radiated energy is not clear, leading to an energy balance paradox. The purpose of this letter is first to evince that this problem occurs in the general case and not only for uniform acce…
A procedure for solving the Maxwell equations in vacuum, under the additional requirement that both scalar invariants are equal to zero, is presented. Such a field is usually called a null electromagnetic field. Based on the complex Euler potentials that appear as arbitrary functions in the general solution, a vector potential for the null electromagnetic field is defined. This potential is called natural vector potential of the null electromagnetic field. An attempt is made to make the most of knowing the general solution. The properties of the field and the potential are studied without fixi…
Electromagnetic fields of an accelerated charge are derived from the first principles using Coulomb's law and the relativistic transformations. The electric and magnetic fields are derived first for an instantaneous rest frame of the accelerated charge, without making explicit use of Gauss's law, an approach different from that available in the literature. Thereafter we calculate the electromagnetic fields for an accelerated charge having a non-relativistic motion. The expressions for these fields, supposedly accurate only to a first order in velocity $β$, surprisingly yield all terms exactly …
We investigate the coupling of the electromagnetic sources (charge and current densities) to the scalar and vector potentials in classical electrodynamics, using Green function techniques. As is well known, the scalar potential shows an action-at-a-distance behavior in Coulomb gauge. The conundrum generated by the instantaneous interaction has intrigued physicists for a long time. Starting from the differential equations that couple the sources to the potentials, we here show in a concise derivation, using the retarded Green function, how the instantaneous interaction cancels in the calculatio…
