Beginning with the explicitly covariant Maxwell equations in media, we deduce an explicitly covariant stress-energy-momentum balance equation in material media. Proceeding in this way we avoid mixing external fields a...Beginning with the explicitly covariant Maxwell equations in media, we deduce an explicitly covariant stress-energy-momentum balance equation in material media. Proceeding in this way we avoid mixing external fields and self fields, as occurs if one begins with Lorentz＇s law, the most usual approach appearing in textbooks. Indeed our deduction implies a generalized force density in which the total fields appear. As an application of the present deduction, we discuss briefly the Abraham-Minkowski controversy, showing its relation to open or closed electromagnetic systems. This approach will be interesting for scholars as well as graduate students interested in conceptual problems of relativistic electromagnetism.展开更多
文摘Beginning with the explicitly covariant Maxwell equations in media, we deduce an explicitly covariant stress-energy-momentum balance equation in material media. Proceeding in this way we avoid mixing external fields and self fields, as occurs if one begins with Lorentz＇s law, the most usual approach appearing in textbooks. Indeed our deduction implies a generalized force density in which the total fields appear. As an application of the present deduction, we discuss briefly the Abraham-Minkowski controversy, showing its relation to open or closed electromagnetic systems. This approach will be interesting for scholars as well as graduate students interested in conceptual problems of relativistic electromagnetism.
