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I attended a lecture on non-inertial frames of reference and fictitous forces in translating and rotating frames (in the case of rotating frames the relevant forces are Coriolis and centrifugal forces), and when the lecturer gave the relation between the rate of change of a vector $\vec{A}$ and it's rate of change in a rotating frame (with the same origin) -

$$\frac{d\vec{A}}{dt} = \frac{d\vec{A'}}{dt}+\vec{\omega}\times\vec{A}$$

he commented that $\vec{A}$ might represent any physical vector- including force fields like electric fields - and not just distance and velocity. After that he remarked the theory of Maxwell's equations in rotating frames is important in astrophysics; specifically in modeling electromagnetic fields of pulsars.

I understand that the concept of rotation is universal to all vectors, so that (obviously) an electric field can be measured in different directions relative to different frames of references (different coordinate systems). In addition, by the classical theory of electroagnetic fields, the first time derivative of electric field represents magnetic field (by Maxwell's "displacement current" correction to Ampere's law). But i had hard time trying to think if there is any meaningful analogy to the coriolis and centrifugal acceleration terms (of classical mechanics) in electromagnetic theory?

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  • $\begingroup$ The last sentence should be a separate question entirely. It also needs to be more specific, as in its current state it's likely to be closed as "too broad". $\endgroup$ Commented Dec 11, 2019 at 11:52
  • $\begingroup$ O.K i'll remove the last sentence. Then my question is very clear - is there a meaningful interpretation to the coriolis and centrifugal terms when the "position vector" is actually the electric field? $\endgroup$
    – user2554
    Commented Dec 11, 2019 at 12:04
  • $\begingroup$ How does electric field produce acceleration?You can calculate when a charged particle present in that region.I think changing reference frame producing magnetic field due to the motion of the frame in presence of electric field. $\endgroup$
    – baponkar
    Commented Dec 11, 2019 at 12:31
  • $\begingroup$ Yes, i also think so. it's similar to a circular loop whose plane is rotating relative to the external electric field; one can descibe it as a changing electric field. By the way i have a certain clue how to approach my question, but i lack the knowledge to answer it affirmitavely. $\endgroup$
    – user2554
    Commented Dec 11, 2019 at 12:44
  • $\begingroup$ My clue is that just like coriolis forces appear when an object moves in the rotating frame of reference (coriolis forces are present only when there is motion in the rotating frame, unlike centrifugal force), than there must be a component of the induced electric field that is present only when there is magnetic field (because electric field+motion = magnetic field). $\endgroup$
    – user2554
    Commented Dec 11, 2019 at 12:44

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