The Secret Life of the Dipole

The classical theory of electrodynamics is built upon Maxwell's equations and the concepts of electromagnetic field, force, energy and momentum, which are intimately tied together by Poynting's theorem and the Lorentz force law. Whereas Maxwell's macroscopic equations relate the electric and magnetic fields to their material sources (i.e., charge, current, polarization and magnetization), Poynting's theorem governs the flow of electromagnetic energy and its exchange between f...

A stationary magnetic dipole immersed in an electric field carries "hidden" mechanical momentum. However, the fate of this momentum if the fields are turned off is unclear. We consider a charge-and-dipole hidden momentum configuration, and turn off the fields by collapsing a null shell onto the system, forming a black hole. In numerical calculations we find that the black hole receives a kick corresponding to 0.1% of the initial stored momentum. When extrapolated to apply to ...

The Lorentz force law of classical electrodynamics states that the force F exerted by the magnetic induction B on a particle of charge q moving with velocity V is given by F=qVxB. Since this force is orthogonal to the direction of motion, the magnetic field is said to be incapable of performing mechanical work. Yet there is no denying that a permanent magnet can readily perform mechanical work by pushing/pulling on another permanent magnet -- or by attracting pieces of magnet...

In this brief note, we argue that the elusive magnetic monopole arises due to the strong magnetic effects arising from the non commutative space time structure at small scales. This would also explain why the monopole has eluded detection even after seventy years.

The action of certain static magnetic fields on charged test particles is interpreted as a consequence of the interaction of the particles with electric dipole distributions emitted by other charged particles in relative motion. The dipole model of electric forces was initially conceived to emulate Coulomb's law, but is applied here to a wide class of phenomena, such as forces between parallel conductors, a relativistic correction of Biot--Savart's law, and the magnetic momen...

Starting with the most general form of Maxwell's macroscopic equations in which the free charge and free current densities, rho_free and J_free, as well as the densities of polarization and magnetization, P and M, are arbitrary functions of space and time, we compare and contrast two versions of the Poynting vector, namely, S=ExB/mu_0 and S=ExH. Here E is the electric field, H the magnetic field, B the magnetic induction, and mu_0 the permeability of free space. We argue that...

In the paper some regimes of motion of an electric dipole placed in a uniform magnetic field are considered. The motion of both three-dimensional and two-dimensional dipole in the plane perpendicular to the magnetic field is studied. In the case of a two-dimensional dipole is discussed, in particular, the regime of chaotic dipole motion, which arises when, along with the magnetic field, there is an electric field rotating in the plane of motion. The motion of a three-dimensio...

The concept of hidden momentum is reviewed and the first rigorous derivation from Maxwell's equations is provided for the electromagnetic force on electrically small perfect electric conductors of arbitrary shape in bandlimited but otherwise arbitrarily time-varying fields. It is proven for the Amperian magnetic dipoles of these perfect conductors that a "hidden-momentum" electromagnetic force exists that makes the force on these time varying Amperian magnetic dipoles equal t...

One of the most basic properties of magnetism is that a magnet always has two poles, north and south, which cannot be separated into isolated poles, i.e., magnetic monopoles. However, there are strong theoretical arguments why magnetic monopoles should exist. In spite of extensive searches they have not been found, but they have nevertheless played a central role in our understanding of physics at the most fundamental level.

The close connection of electricity and magnetism is one of the cornerstones of modern physics. This connection plays crucial role from the fundamental point of view and in practical applications, including spintronics and multiferroic materials. A breakthrough was a recent proposal that in magnetic materials called spin ice the elementary excitations have a magnetic charge and behave as magnetic monopoles. I show that, besides magnetic charge, there should be an electric dip...