Decomposition of the total momentum in a linear dielectric into field and matter components |
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Authors: | Michael E Crenshaw |
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Institution: | US Army Aviation and Missile Research, Development, and Engineering Center, Redstone Arsenal, AL 35898, USA |
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Abstract: | The long-standing resolution of the Abraham–Minkowski electromagnetic momentum controversy is predicated on a decomposition of the total momentum of a closed continuum electrodynamic system into separate field and matter components. Using a microscopic model of a simple linear dielectric, we derive Lagrangian equations of motion for the electric dipoles and show that the dielectric can be treated as a collection of stationary simple harmonic oscillators that are driven by the electric field and produce a polarization field in response. The macroscopic energy and momentum are defined in terms of the electric, magnetic, and polarization fields that travel through the dielectric together as a pulse of electromagnetic radiation. We conclude that both the macroscopic total energy and the macroscopic total momentum are entirely electromagnetic in nature for a simple linear dielectric in the absence of significant reflections. |
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Keywords: | Abraham&ndash Minkowski controversy Electromagnetic momentum Abraham momentum Minkowski momentum Gordon momentum Lorentz force |
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