Accession Number:

AD0672793

Title:

ON THE FOUNDATIONS OF ELECTRODYNAMICS.

Descriptive Note:

Final rept. (Part 2), Sep 65-Jun 68,

Corporate Author:

MASSACHUSETTS INST OF TECH CAMBRIDGE DEPT OF PHYSICS

Personal Author(s):

• Tisza,Laszlo

Report Date:

1968-07-01

Pagination or Media Count:

45.0

Abstract:

This paper is the first in a series in which electrodynamics is developed from the ground up. The electromagnetic field is defined in terms of an infinitesimal active Lorentz transformation that alters the four-momentum of a charged structureless test particle. The Lorentz transformations are parameterized in terms of the Pauli algebra formalism developed by Tisza and Whitney. Comparison with the Lorentz force equation yields the result that the magnetic field manifests itself in a rotation of the particle momentum, the angular velocity of which is the cyclotron frequency the electric field is in a similar relation to the hyperbolic angular velocity associated with the active Lorentz transformation describing the boost. The Maxwell equations are obtained from the usual requirement of relativistic invariance. Author

Descriptors:

• *ELECTROMAGNETISM
• *RELATIVITY THEORY
• ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELDS
• TRANSFORMATIONS(MATHEMATICS)
• ALGEBRA
• MOMENTUM
• INVARIANCE
• INTERACTIONS
• TENSOR ANALYSIS

Subject Categories:

• Electricity and Magnetism
• Quantum Theory and Relativity

Distribution Statement:

APPROVED FOR PUBLIC RELEASE