Electromagnetism on an Exterior Derivative Flow Diagram


A Paper on a Flow Diagram for Electromagnetic Theory as Written in Twisted Differential Forms


IT'S HERE   (as an incomplete draft version)   --   a new paper!

Title:  Electromagnetism on an Exterior Derivative Flow Diagram with Plane Reflection Symmetry for Electromagnetic and Constitutive Duality

  This is a graphical representation of the differential equations of electromagnetism.

  It is an INCOMPLETE DRAFT version 0.7b. All the graphics are now done. Well, they still need just a bit more work, but they are all included in this draft version.

  The most difficult and beautiful part, Nisbet's gauge theory of the Hertz potentials, is now finished and included in it.

  It still needs much more text, some tables of symbols, and many more references added.

  You can read it on screen, but the large four panel diagram really need to be printed and taped together.



Abstract.   Flow diagrams for the differential equations of classical electromagnetism have previously been published as expository tools by Tonti and Deshamps. Electromagnetic duality, resulting from the theoretical magnetic monopole, and constitutive duality, such as between the E and D fields, are fundamental concepts of the theory. However, in neither the Tonti nor the Deshamps diagram do both dualities correspond to reflection in a line or plane. Hyperplane reflection, among all the nonidentical isometries (distance-preserving symmetry operations) of the Euclidean plane or space, is the only one that is both the most elementary from which the others can be composed, and also very simple, or even simplest, to visualize. We present a new flow diagram for the differential equations of the space-time split, (3+1)-dimensional, theory of classical electromagnetism in arbitrary media at rest. It is drawn as a lattice of rectangular parallelepipeds to allow two reflection planes. The horizontal reflection plane mirrors the field quantities with their electromagnetic duals; the vertical reflection plane mirrors the field quantities with their constitutive duals. As key to the elegant symbolic expression of these symmetries, we follow Burke by using both ordinary and twisted differential forms, possessing both inner and outer orientations, to write the equations in manifestly parity-invariant form. The previously unnamed ``Lorentz functions" and ``surge subsources" are represented. We exhibit Nisbet's direct plus dual gauge theory of the Hertz and stream potentials in this fitting arena. The origin of the diagram is briefly discussed.


  download (or read online) the Adobe Acrobat .pdf file (431164 bytes):
  Electromagnetism on an Exterior Derivative Flow Diagram





Links to a Few EM & Differential Forms Related Sites

Now these really are some links!

  Differential Forms in Electromagnetic Theory
      by Richard H. Selfridge, David V. Arnold and Karl F. Warnick
      Brigham Young University

  Natural Operations in Differential Geometry
      by Ivan Kolar, Jan Slovak and Peter W. Michor
     The Electronic Library of Mathematics:  "download the whole book as one file"

  General Relativity Tutorial
      John Baez
     "bunch of interconnected web pages that serve as an informal introduction to general relativity"

  Bill Burke (deceased)
      The papers in the files available at this site (and his print books and papers) are an excellent introduction to twisted differential forms.

  Algebras of electromagnetics
      many great links and references by Perttu Puska
      HUT Electromagnetics Laboratory


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Last modified:  Wednesday, January 13, 2010


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