PHYSICS 4351B, Fall 2014 Assignment 2 Nathan Law 250560559 Monday, January 27th

As a point of reference, I will present the angular momentum conservation derivation as presented in class. This includes angular momentum as a result of the electromagnetic fields and mechanical momentum. Angular momentum can be expressed as the distance an object is situated from the origin, ,

crossed with its linear momentum, . For angular momentum stored in the electromagnetic fields only: = ( ) = 0 0

= 0 0 = 0 0 ( )

, is the energy flux density*. It describes the energy per unit area, per unit time, transported by the electromagnetic fields. We derived an expression for conservation of angular mechanical momentum as follows:

= =

( ) , = )

= ( 0 0

We will now use Einstein summation notation to work out this cross product: =

*For the full derivation of the energy flux density, S, please see Griffiths 8.1.2

= (m Tmk 0 0

= m Tmk 0 0 = m Tmk 0 0

dSk ) dt

T, is the Maxwell Stress Tensor. For the next step, we define , which is the angular momentum flux density. = ( Tmk )

dSk dt

Substitute K, in vector notation:

= ( ) 0 0 + = =

Local conservation of angular momentum for particles within an electromagnetic field is often overlooked. For example, in Griffiths, Introduction to Electrodynamics (3rd Edition), only the angular momentum that is stored in the fields is presented. The mechanical momentum of particles and the angular momentum flux tensor are not mentioned, leaving a logical gap in presentation. This is inconsistent with the full derivation of linear momentum conservation in the preceding section where both of these parameters are taken in to consideration. This is not an isolated occurrence in scientific writing. Johnson, Cragin, & Hodges (1992), suggests that while attempting to explain electromagnetic momentum, many examples in literature are, deceptively

( + ) =

simple in their configurations, yet difficult to analyze, and many errors have appeared2. In an attempt to eliminate this logic gap, the following discussion will look at some of the more prominent theoretical and experimental work done on angular momentum conservation in electrodynamics. The conservation of momentum in an electric field was described at least as early as 1904 by J.J. Thomson3. Since then, there has been ongoing discussion and research in this topic, however, in many cases either incompletely or erroneously2. Two particularly noteworthy publications are Furry, (1969) and, Pugh & Pugh, (1967) which demonstrate complete analyses of theoretical configurations involving angular momentum conservation. Furry, analyzes the distributions of momentums in electromagnetic fields and material bodies using different configurations of electrostatic charges and magnets. Unlike, Pugh and Pugh, Furry applies quasimicroscopic electromagnetic theory to show that angular momentum is conserved if small electromagnetic mass terms are neglected4. Pugh and Pugh, proposed the configuration in Figure 1. A nonconducting sphere is surrounded by two concentric conducting spherical shells of radii a and b. The inner shell has charge +Q and the outer shell has charge Q. Therefore, an electric field is confined in the space between the conducting shells. The inner sphere is solid and magnetized1.

Figure 1: Theoretical configuration proposed by Pugh & Pugh1. The two concentric shells are slowly charged resulting in electric currents generated in the sphere. These electric currents interact with the magnetic field and result in angular momenta in the two spheres1. Using this theoretical model, Pugh & Pugh, demonstrated that the electromagnetic momentum density is critical in defining the angular momentum of the system. Furthermore, using conservation of angular momentum, they show that the Poynting Vector is incorrect4.

References: 1. E.M. Pugh and G.E. Pugh, Physical significance of the Poynting vector in static fields, Am.K. Phys, 35, 153-156 (1967). 2. F.S. Johnson, B.L. Cragin, R.R. Hodges, Electromagnetic Momentum Density and the Poynting Vector in Static Fields, Am. J. Phys. 62, 33 (1994). 3. J.J. Thomson, Elements of the Mathematical Theory of Electricity and Magnetism, 3rd ed. (Cambridge University, London, 1904). 4. W.H. Furry, Examples of momentum distribution in the electromagnetic field and in matter, Am. J. Phys. 37, 621-636 (1969).