Solutions to Problems in Jackson,

Classical Electrodynamics, Third Edition

Homer Reid
March 28, 2002
Chapter 6: Problems 1-8
1
Homer Reids Solutions to Jackson Problems: Chapter 6 2
Problem 6.2
The charge and current densities for a single point charge q can be written formally
as
(x

, t

) = q[x

r(t

)]; J(x

, t

) = qv(t

)[x

r(t

)]
where r(t

) is the charges position at time t

and v(t

) is its velocity. In evaluating

expressions involving the retarded time, one must put t

= t
ret
= t R(t

)/c, where
R = x r(t

).
(a) As a preliminary to deriving the Heaviside-Feynman expressions for the electric
and magnetic elds of a point charge, show that

d
3
x

[x

r(t
ret
)] =
1

where = 1 v

R/c. Note that is evaluated at the retarded time.
(b) Starting with the Jemenko generalizations of the Coulomb and Biot-Savart
laws, use the expressions for the charge and current densities for a point charge
and the result of part a to obtain the Heaviside-Feynman expressions for the
electric and magnetic elds of a point charge,
E =
q
4
0

R
R
2

ret
+
1
c

R
R

ret

1
c
2

v
R

ret

and
B =

0
q
4

v

R
R
2

ret
+
1
c

v

R
R

ret

(c) In our notation Feynmans expression for the electric eld is

E =
q
4
0

R
R
2

ret
+
[R]
ret
c

R
R
2

ret
+
1
c
2

2
t
2
[

R]
ret

while Heavisides expression for the magnetic eld is

B =

0
q
4

v

R

2
R
2

ret
+
1
c[R]
ret

v

R

ret

.
Show the equivalence of the two sets of expressions for the elds.
(a) Lets rst assume that the charge is traveling along the z axis, so that its
position is given by
r(t) = (z
0
+ v
z
t)

k.
Homer Reids Solutions to Jackson Problems: Chapter 6 3
The retarded time t
ret
(t, z) at a given point z on the z axis is
t
ret
(t, z) = t
z
c
so
r[t
ret
(t, z)] = (z
0
+ v
z
t
ret
(t, z))

k.
Hence
(x r[t
ret
(x, t)]) = (x)(y) {z [z
0
+ v
z
t
ret
(t, z)]}
= (x)(y)

z [z
0
+ v
z
(t
z
c
)]

= (x)(y)

z z
0
v
z
t +
v
z
c
z)]

= (x)(y)

1 +
v
z
c

z (z
0
+ v
z
t)

By the properties of the function we may write this as

=

1
1 + v
z
/c

(x)(y)

z
z
0
+ v
z
t
1 + v
z
/c

.
The function is singling out the point in space from which originates the
electromagnetic disturbance we feel at the origin at time t. Lets think about
whats going on here in two limiting cases. First, as v
z
0, the z delta function
becomes (z(z
0
+v
z
t)). This means that the source point for the eld we feel at
the origin at time t is just z = z
0
v
z
t, which is of course just the instantaneous
location of the source particle at time t. In other words, the electromagnetic
disturbance left behind by the particle at time t reaches the origin so quickly
that the particle hasnt had time to move on. The electromagnetic disturbance
seems to be coming from the instantaneous location of the particle itself.
In the opposite limit v
z
c, the z delta function becomes (z(z
0
v
z
t)/2).
This says that the point from which we feel an electromagnetic disturbance at
time t is half as far from the origin as the particle itself is at time t. This
again makes sense. At each point in the particles motion, the electromagnetic
disturbance it causes begins propagating toward the origin, while meanwhile
the particle continues propagating away from the origin at the same speed.
Hence when the electromagnetic disturbance has reached the origin, the particle
has traveled as far as the electromagnetic disturbance did, but in the opposite
direction, so it is now twice as far from the origin as it was when the disturbance
we are just now feeling was generated.
Homer Reids Solutions to Jackson Problems: Chapter 6 4
Problem 6.5
A localized electric charge distribution produces an electrostatic eld, E = .
Into this eld is placed a small localized time-independent current density J(x),
which generates a magnetic eld H.
(a) Show that the momentum of these electromagnetic elds, (6.117), can be trans-
formed to
P
eld
=
1
c
2

Jd
3
x
provided the product H falls of rapidly enough at large distances. How
rapidly is rapidly enough?
(b) Assuming that the current distribution is localized to a region small compared
to the scale of variation of the electric eld, expand the electrostatic potential
in a Taylor series and show that
P
eld
=
1
c
2
E(0) m,
where E(0) is the electric eld at the current distribution and m is the mag-
netic moment, (5.54), caused by the current.
(c) Suupose the current distribution is placed instead in a uniform electric eld
E
0
(lling all space). Show that, no matter how complicated is the localized
J, the result in part a is augmented by a surface integral contribution from
innity equal to minus one-third of the result of part b, yielding
P
eld
=
2
3c
2
E
0
m.
Compare this result with that obtained by working directly with (6.117) and
the considerations at the end of Section 5.6.
(a) From the denition of electromagnetic eld momentum we have
c
2
P
eld
=

EHdV
=

() HdV.
Focusing for now on the z component, we have
c
2
P
z
=

x
H
y

y
H
x
) dxdy dz (1)
Homer Reids Solutions to Jackson Problems: Chapter 6 5
Lets take our volume of integration to be a cube of side L, which we will
eventually take to innity. Integrating the rst term by parts with respect to
x, we have

L
L

L
L

L
L

x
H
y
dx

dy dz =

L
L

L
L

H
y

x=L
x=L

H
y
x
dx

dy dz.
Similarly integrating the second term in (1) by parts with respect to y, we may
write (1) as
c
2
P
z
=

L
L

L
L
H
y

x=L
x=L
dy dz +

L
L

L
L
H
x

y=L
y=L
dxdz +

(H)
z
dV
=

L
L

L
L
H
y

x=L
x=L
dy dz +

L
L

L
L
H
x

y=L
y=L
dxdz +

J
z
dV
where in going to the last line we used H = J since there is no time-
dependent E eld. This equation is just the z component of
c
2
P =

H dA+

JdV. (2)
If we now take L , the rst integral (which describes surface eects)
vanishes providing the product (x)H(x) vanishes more quickly (i.e. like a
higher power of x) than x
2
. Then we are left with just the second term:
c
2
P =

JdV. (3)
(b) We have
(x) = (0) +x (0) +
1
2

x
i
x
j

x
i
x
j
+
We may arbitrarily choose (0) = 0. Also, we are told that the electric eld
doesnt vary much in the region of nonvanishing J, in which case we may ignore
the second derivatives of , to obtain
(x) x (0) = x E(0).
Plugging into (3),
c
2
P =

x E(0)

JdV. (4)
We have

x E(0)

J =

E(0) J

x E(0)

E(0) J

x
= E(0)

x J

E(0) J

x
Homer Reids Solutions to Jackson Problems: Chapter 6 6
where in the rst line we added and subtracted a term, and in the second used
the BAC-CAB identity of vector analysis. With this, (4) becomes
c
2
P = E(0)

x +J

dV

E(0) J] xdV
= 2E(0) m

E(0) J] xdV
where in the rst term we have identied the denition of the dipole moment m.
Evidently to get this to match up with what Jackson has we need to argue that
second term is exactly half the rst, but I cant see how to do this for arbitrary
J. Can anybody help?
(c) From (2) we have
c
2
P =

H dA+

JdV.
The second term is just equal to (E m)/c
2
, as computed in part b. For the
rst term,
Problem 6.13
A parallel plate capacitor is formed of two at rectangular perfectly conducting
sheets of dimensions a and b separated by a distance d small compared to a or b.
Current is fed in and taken out uniformly along adjacent edges of length b. With
the input current and voltage dened at this end of the capacitor, calculate the
input impedance or admittance using the eld concepts of Section 6.9.
(a) Calculate the electric and magnetic elds in the capacitor correct to second
order in powers of the frequency, but neglecting fringing elds.
(b) Show that the expansion of the reactance (6.140) in powers of the frequency
to an appropriate order is the same as that obtained for a lumped circuit
consisting of a capacitance C =
0
ab/d in series with an inductance L =

0
ad/3b.
(a) Well suppose the plates are oriented parallel to the xy plane, with the lower
plate at z = 0 and the upper plate at z = d. Well take the edges of side a
parallel to the x axis, and the edges of side b parallel to the y axis. Then the
boundary condition on the current density is
J(0, y, 0) = J(0, y, d) = J
0

j
for 0 < y < b.
Homer Reids Solutions to Jackson Problems: Chapter 6 7
With neglect of fringing elds, the electric eld between the plates exists
only in the z direction, while the magnetic eld exists only in the x direction.
We assume harmonic time dependence and write
E(y) = E(y)e
it

k B(y) = B(y)e
it
x; (5)
then time dierentiation becomes multiplication by i. The Maxwell equa-
tions are then
E = 0
E
z
= 0
B = 0
B
x
= 0
E =
B
t

E
y
= +iB
B =
1
c
2
E
t

B
y
= +
i
c
2
E.
(6)
We postulate an expansion in powers of for E and B:
E(y) = E
0
(y) + E
1
(y) +
2
E
2
(y) +
B(y) = B
0
(y) + B
1
(y) +
2
B
2
(y) +
(7)
Then the curl equations in (6) become

E
0
+ E
1
+
2
E
2
+

= i

B
0
+ B
1
+
2
B
2
+

B
0
+ B
1
+
2
B
2
+

=
i
c
2

E
0
+ E
1
+
2
E
2
+

Homer Reids Solutions to Jackson Problems: Chapter 6 8

Equating equal powers of in these equations, we obtain
E
0
y
= 0 E
0
=
B
0
y
= 0 B
0
=
E
1
y
= iB
0
= i E
1
= iy
B
1
y
=
i
c
2
E
0
=
i
c
2
B
1
=
i
c
2
y
E
2
y
= iB
1
=

c
2
y E
2
=

2c
2
y
2
B
2
y
=
i
c
2
E
1
=

c
2
y B
2
=

2c
2
y
2
E
3
y
= iB
2
=
i
2c
2
y
2
E
3
=
i
6c
2
y
3
B
3
y
=
i
c
2
E
2
=
i
2c
4
y
2
B
3
=
i
6c
4
y
3
E
4
y
= iB
3
=

24c
4
y
3
E
4
=
i
24c
2
y
4
B
4
y
=
i
c
2
E
3
= +

6c
4
y
3
B
4
=

24c
4
y
4
and so on. Plugging into (7), we obtain
E(y) = (1
(ky)
2
2
+
(ky)
4
24
+ ) + ic(ky
(ky)
3
6
+ ) (8)
= cos ky + ic sin ky (9)
B(y) = cos ky +
i
c
sin ky (10)
where k = /c, and where we simply wrote down what we guessed to be the
sums of the full innite series from their rst few terms.
To complete the problem we need to determine the constants and , for
which purpose we appeal to the boundary conditions on the plates. We know
that the discontinuities in the E and B eld are proportional to the surface
charge and current densities on the plates. Since these conditions only give
information on the dierences between the elds outside and between the plates,
we ostensibly have to know what the elds are outside to get what they are
inside. But for the purposes of this problem well just assume there are no
elds outside, so the charge and current densities on the plates determine the
elds inside. I know this is correct in the low-frequency limit, and in the high-
frequency limit Im not yet sure how to compute the radiation elds in the
region outside the plates, so I will ignore them.
Homer Reids Solutions to Jackson Problems: Chapter 6 9
The boundary conditions are
E
z
=

0
B
x
=
0
K
y
where and K
y
are the charge density and y component of the surface current
density on the top plate (assumed to be identical but with opposite sign on the
bottom plate). Plugging in the solutions (9) and (??), we have
=
0
(cos ky + ic sin ky)
K
y
=
1

0
( cos ky +
i
c
sin ky)
(11)
As a sanity check, we can verify the continuity relation between charge and
current on the plates:
K
y
y
=

t
= +i
Plugging in (11), the left and right sides of this are
LHS =
1

0
(k sin ky +
ik
c
cos ky)
RHS = i
0
(cos ky + ic sinky)
and the two are evidently equal.
The forcing function in this problem is the surface current density specied
on the edges of length b. If the total current fed into the y = 0 edge of the top
plate is I(t) = I
0
cos t (with an opposite current taken out of the y = 0 edge
of the bottom plate) then the surface current boundary conditions are
K
y
(y = 0) =
I
0
b
cos t
K
y
(y = a) = 0
Comparing with (11), we see that these boundary conditions we have to take
=

0
I
0
b
cos t
=
i
0
I
0
c
b
cos t cot ka
Homer Reids Solutions to Jackson Problems: Chapter 6 10
Plugging into (9) and (10),
E
z
=
i
0
I
0
c
b
cos t [cot ka cos ky + sinky]
=
i
0
I
0
c
b
cos t

1
sin ka

[cos ka cos ky + sin ka sinky]

=
i
0
I
0
c
b
cos t
cos[k(y a)]
sin ka
B
z
=

0
I
0
b
cos t [cos ky + cot ka sinky]
=

0
I
0
b
cos t
1
sin ka
[sin ka cos ky + cos ka sinky]
=

0
I
0
b
cos t
sin[k(y a)]
sin ka
Problem 6.14
An ideal circular parallel plate capacitor of radius a and plate separation d a is
connected to a current source by axial leads, as shown in the sketch. The current
in the wire is I(t) = I
0
cos t.
(a) Calculate the electric and magnetic elds between the plates to second order in
powers of the frequency (or wave number), neglecting the eects of fringing
elds.
(b) Calculate the volume integrals of w
e
and w
m
that enter the denition of the
reactance X, (6.140), to second order in . Show that in terms of the input
current I
i
, dened by I
i
= iQ, where Q is the total charge on one plate,
these energies are

w
e
d
3
x =
1
4
0
|I
i
|
2
d

2
a
2
,

w
m
d
3
x =

0
4
|I
i
|
2
d
8

1 +

2
a
2
12c
2

(c) Show that the equivalent series circuit has C

0
a
2
/d, L
0
d/8, and
that an estimate for the resonant frequency of the system is
res
= 2

2c/a.
Compare with the rst root of J
0
(x).
(a) We work in cylindrical coordinates and assume harmonic time dependence
( e
it
) for all quantities; then time dierentiation is replaced by multiplica-
tion by i. If we neglect the eects of fringing elds, everything is symmetric
in , and the electric eld between the plates is entirely in the z direction, while
Homer Reids Solutions to Jackson Problems: Chapter 6 11
the magnetic eld is entirely in the direction:
E(x, t) = E(r, z)e
it
z B = B(r, z)e
it

. (12)
The Maxwell equations for the elds between the plates are
E = 0

z
E = 0
B = 0

B = 0
E =
B
t

E
r
= iB
B =
1
c
2
E
t

1
r

r
(rB) =
i
c
2
E.
(13)
To proceed, lets propose an expansion of the elds in powers of the frequency:
E(r) = E
0
(r, z) + E
1
(r, z) +
2
E
2
(r, z) + (14)
B(r) = B
0
(r, z) + B
1
(r, z) +
2
B
2
(r, z) + (15)
Then the curl equations in (13) become

E
0
+ E
1
+
2
E
2

= i

B
0
+ B
1
+
2
B
2

1
r

rB
0
+ rB
1
+
2
rB
2

=
i
c
2

E
0
+ E
1
+
2
E
2

Now we just have to go through and equate like powers of in these equations.
For n = 0, we have
E
0
r
= 0 E
0
=
1
(16)
for some constant
1
, and
1
r

r
(rB
0
) = 0 B
0
=

r
. (17)
But for nonzero this blows up at the origin. Hence we must take = 0, so
B
0
= 0. 2 For n = 1, we have
E
1
r
= iB
0
= 0 E
1
=
2
(18)
for some constant
2
, and
1
r

r
(rB
1
) =
i
c
2
E
0
=
i
1
c
2
B
1
=
i
1
2c
2
r. (19)
Continuing,
E
2
r
= iB
1
=

1
2c
2
r E
2
=

1
4c
2
r
2
(20)
1
r

r
(rB
2
) =
i
c
2
E
1
=
i
2
c
2
B
2
=
i
2
2c
2
r (21)
Homer Reids Solutions to Jackson Problems: Chapter 6 12
E
3
r
= iB
2
=

2
2c
2
r E
3
=

2
4c
2
r
2
(22)
1
r

r
(rB
3
) =
i
c
2
E
2
=
i
1
4c
4
r
2
B
3
=
i
1
16c
4
r
3
(23)
Evidently E
2n
and E
2n+1
have the same form but dier by the presence of

1
or
2
, as is true for B
2n1
and B
2n
. Plugging in equations (16) through (23)
into (14) and (15), we obtain
E(r) = (
1
+
2
)

1

2
4c
2
r
2
+

4
64c
4
r
4

+
= (
1
+
2
)

1
(kr)
2
4
+
(kr)
4
64
+

B(r) =
i
c
(
1
+
2
)

kr
2

1
(kr)
2
8
+

These look the rst few terms in certain Bessel functions:

E(r) = (
1
+
2
)J
0
(kr) J
0
(kr)
B(r) =
i
c
J
1
(kr)
where we can dene the constant = (
1
+
2
) since were dealing with a
xed frequency. Inserting into (12) we obtain
E(r, t) = J
0
(kr)e
it

k B(r, t) =
i
c
J
1
(kr)e
it

. (24)
To work out the value of , we need to apply the boundary conditions at the
capacitor plates. An easy way to do this is to consider what happens as 0.
In that limit there is no magnetic eld, and the electric eld between the plates
is just E
z
(t) = 2(t)/
0
, where (t) is the instantaneous value of the surface
charge induced on each plate (positive on the top plate, negative on the bottom).
Now, the total charge on the top plate is just the integral of the current owing
onto that plate:
q =

I(t) dt =
I
0

sin t
and the surface charge is this divided by the plate area (since we are assuming a
low frequency, any charge that ows onto the plate instantaneously equilibrates
with the rest of the charge on the plate, yielding a constant surface charge
density):
(t) =
I
0
a
2

sin t.
Hence the electric eld in the low frequency limit is
E
z
( 0) =
2I
0
a
2

0
sin .
Homer Reids Solutions to Jackson Problems: Chapter 6 13
Comparing this with(24) in the limit k 0, we obtain
=
2I
0
i
a
2

0
.
Hence
E(r, t) =
2I
0
a
2

0
J
0
(kr) sin t

k B(r, t) =
2
0
I
0
c
a
2

J
1
(kr) cos t

. (25)
(b) The average energy densities are
w
e
=

0
4
E
2
=
I
2
0
(a
2
)
2

1
kr
4
+

2
w
m
=
1
4
2
0
B
2
=

0
I
2
0
c
2
(a
2
)
2

kr
2

2
1
(kr)
2
8
+

2
We only have to keep the rst terms in the parentheses to get the energy right
to second order in :
U
e

I
2
0
(a
2
)
2

a
0
(2d)(r dr)
=
I
2
0
d
a
2

0
U
m
=

0
I
2
0
c
2
(a
2
)
2

a
0
(2d)(rdr)

kr
2

(kr)
3
8
+

U
m
=

0
I
2
0
c
2
(a
2
)
2

a
0
(2d)(rdr)

kr
2

(kr)
3
8
+