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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 - Maxwell's (D, H ) excitation fields
T2 - lessons from permanent magnets
AU - Gratus, Jonathan
AU - Kinsler, Paul
AU - McCall, Martin
PY - 2019/2/18
Y1 - 2019/2/18
N2 - Macroscopic Maxwellian electrodynamics consists of four field quantities along with electric charges and electric currents. The fields occur in pairs, the primary ones being the electric and magnetic fields (E , B), and the other the excitation fields (D, H ). The link between the two pairs of field is provided by constitutive relations, which specify (D, H ) in terms of (E , B); this last connection enabling Maxwell's (differential) equations to be combined in a way that supports waves. In this paper we examine the role played by the excitation fields (D, H ), showing that they can be regarded as not having a physical existence, and are merely playing a mathematically convenient role. This point of view is made particularly relevant when we consider competing constitutive models of permanent magnets, which although having the same measurable magnetic properties, have startlingly different behaviours for the magnetic excitation field H .
AB - Macroscopic Maxwellian electrodynamics consists of four field quantities along with electric charges and electric currents. The fields occur in pairs, the primary ones being the electric and magnetic fields (E , B), and the other the excitation fields (D, H ). The link between the two pairs of field is provided by constitutive relations, which specify (D, H ) in terms of (E , B); this last connection enabling Maxwell's (differential) equations to be combined in a way that supports waves. In this paper we examine the role played by the excitation fields (D, H ), showing that they can be regarded as not having a physical existence, and are merely playing a mathematically convenient role. This point of view is made particularly relevant when we consider competing constitutive models of permanent magnets, which although having the same measurable magnetic properties, have startlingly different behaviours for the magnetic excitation field H .
U2 - 10.1088/1361-6404/ab009c
DO - 10.1088/1361-6404/ab009c
M3 - Journal article
VL - 40
JO - European Journal of Physics
JF - European Journal of Physics
SN - 1361-6404
IS - 2
M1 - 025203
ER -