Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - The electrodynamics of inhomogeneous rotating media and the Abraham and Minkowski tensors
T2 - II. Applications
AU - Goto, Shinichiro
AU - Tucker, Robin
AU - Walton, Timothy
PY - 2011/1/8
Y1 - 2011/1/8
N2 - Applications of the covariant theory of drive-forms are considered for a class of perfectly insulating media. The distinction between the notions of ‘classical photons’ in homogeneous bounded and unbounded stationary media and in stationary unbounded magneto-electric media is pointed out in the context of the Abraham, Minkowski and symmetrized Minkowski electromagnetic stress–energy–momentum tensors. Such notions have led to intense debate about the role of these (and other) tensors in describing electromagnetic interactions in moving media. In order to address some of these issues for material subject to the Minkowski constitutive relations, the propagation of harmonic waves through homogeneous and inhomogeneous, isotropic plane-faced slabs at rest is first considered. To motivate the subsequent analysis on accelerating media, two classes of electromagnetic modes that solve Maxwell’s equations for uniformly rotating homogeneous polarizable media are enumerated. Finally it is shown that, under the influence of an incident monochromatic, circularly polarized, plane electromagnetic wave, the Abraham and symmetrized Minkowski tensors induce different time-averaged torques on a uniformly rotating materially inhomogeneous dielectric cylinder. We suggest that this observation may offer new avenues to explore experimentally the covariant electrodynamics of more general accelerating media.
AB - Applications of the covariant theory of drive-forms are considered for a class of perfectly insulating media. The distinction between the notions of ‘classical photons’ in homogeneous bounded and unbounded stationary media and in stationary unbounded magneto-electric media is pointed out in the context of the Abraham, Minkowski and symmetrized Minkowski electromagnetic stress–energy–momentum tensors. Such notions have led to intense debate about the role of these (and other) tensors in describing electromagnetic interactions in moving media. In order to address some of these issues for material subject to the Minkowski constitutive relations, the propagation of harmonic waves through homogeneous and inhomogeneous, isotropic plane-faced slabs at rest is first considered. To motivate the subsequent analysis on accelerating media, two classes of electromagnetic modes that solve Maxwell’s equations for uniformly rotating homogeneous polarizable media are enumerated. Finally it is shown that, under the influence of an incident monochromatic, circularly polarized, plane electromagnetic wave, the Abraham and symmetrized Minkowski tensors induce different time-averaged torques on a uniformly rotating materially inhomogeneous dielectric cylinder. We suggest that this observation may offer new avenues to explore experimentally the covariant electrodynamics of more general accelerating media.
KW - electrodynamics
KW - continuum mechanics
KW - constitutive theory
KW - relativity
U2 - 10.1098/rspa.2010.0111
DO - 10.1098/rspa.2010.0111
M3 - Journal article
VL - 467
SP - 79
EP - 98
JO - Proceedings of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences
JF - Proceedings of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences
SN - 1364-5021
IS - 2125
ER -