Maxwell's equations - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Page 1 of 35
Maxwell's equations From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (Redirected from Electromagnetic theory)
Maxwell's equations are a set of partial differential equations Electromagnetism that, together with the Lorentz force law, form the foundation of classical electrodynamics, classical optics, and electric circuits. These in turn underlie modern electrical and communications technologies.
Maxwell's equations have two major variants. The "microscopic" set of Maxwell's equations uses total charge and total current Electricity · Magnetism including the difficult-to-calculate atomic level charges and Electrostatics currents in materials. The "macroscopic" set of Maxwell's equations defines two new auxiliary fields that can sidestep Electric charge · Coulomb's law · having to know these 'atomic' sized charges and currents. Electric field · Electric flux · Gauss's law · Electric potential · Maxwell's equations are named after the Scottish physicist and Electrostatic induction · mathematician James Clerk Maxwell, since in an early form they Electric dipole moment · are all found in a four-part paper, "On Physical Lines of Force," which he published between 1861 and 1862. The mathematical Polarization density form of the Lorentz force law also appeared in this paper. Magnetostatics It is often useful to write Maxwell's equations in other forms; Ampère's law · Electric current · these representations are still formally termed "Maxwell's Magnetic field · Magnetization · equations". A relativistic formulation in terms of covariant field Magnetic flux · Biot–Savart law · tensors is used in special relativity, while, in quantum mechanics, Magnetic dipole moment · a version based on the electric and magnetic potentials is preferred. Gauss's law for magnetism Electrodynamics Lorentz force law · emf · Contents Electromagnetic induction · Faraday’s law · Lenz's law · 1 Conceptual description Displacement current · 1.1 Gauss's law Maxwell's equations · EM field · 1.2 Gauss's law for magnetism Electromagnetic radiation · 1.3 Faraday's law 1.4 Ampère's law with Maxwell's correction Liénard–Wiechert potential · Maxwell tensor · Eddy current 2 Units and summary of equations 2.1 Table of 'microscopic' equations Electrical Network 2.2 Table of 'macroscopic' equations Electrical conduction · 2.3 Table of terms used in Maxwell's equations 2.4 Proof that the two general formulations are Electrical resistance · Capacitance · equivalent Inductance · Impedance · Resonant cavities · Waveguides 3 Maxwell's 'microscopic' equations 3.1 With neither charges nor currents Covariant formulation 4 Maxwell's 'macroscopic' equations 4.1 Bound charge and current
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electromagnetic_theory 5/31/2011 Maxwell's equations - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Page 2 of 35