Tagged Questions

1
vote
2answers
198 views

Partial derivative of Lagrangian density for vector field

The lagrangian density of a massless vector field is $ \mathcal{L} = -\frac{1}{4}F_{\mu\nu}F^{\mu\nu}$, where $F_{\mu\nu}=\partial_{\mu}A_{\nu}-\partial_{\nu}A_{\mu}$ Expanding out gives ...
5
votes
1answer
128 views

Electromagnetic 4-potential and basic index contraction

I'm trying to learn about relativistic electrodynamics on my own, and I am struggling with derivatives of the 4-potential and index (Einstein) notation. I think I understand expressions such as ...
3
votes
4answers
443 views

Are the field lines the same as the trajectories of a particle with initial velocity zero

Is it true that the field lines of an electric field are identical to the trajectories of a charged particle with initial velocity zero? If so, how can one prove it? The claim is from a german ...
2
votes
2answers
1k views

Deriving Lagrangian density for electromagnetic field

In considering the (special) relativistic EM field, I understand that assuming a Lagrangian density of the form $$\mathcal{L} =-\frac{1}{4}F_{\mu\nu}F^{\mu\nu} + \frac{1}{c}j_\mu A^\mu$$ and ...
2
votes
1answer
108 views

Crushing a magnetic field

What would happen if you crushed a magnetic field to an ever decreasing size? Thanks. EDIT: How small could the field possibly go? Is there a limit on how small it could get? Is there a maximum ...
1
vote
1answer
124 views

Question on 1st order Lagrangian Derivation in Faddeev-Jackiw Formalism

I'm looking at this reference (sorry it's a postscript file, but I can't find a pdf version on the web. This paper describes a similar procedure). The topic is the Faddeev-Jackiw treatment of ...
8
votes
2answers
320 views

Quantizing EM field

Why when we quantize EM field, whe quantize the vector potential $A^\mu$ obtaining vectorial particles (photons) like the elastic field (phonons) and we can't quantize directly the EM-field tensor ...
13
votes
4answers
1k views

History of Electromagnetic Field Tensor

I'm curious to learn how people discovered that electric and magnetic fields could be nicely put into one simple tensor. It's clear that the tensor provides many beautiful simplifications to the ...