- #1
PhilDSP
- 643
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I'm trying to track down the rationale for removing the cross product of velocity and magnetic field intensity from Maxwell's equation which specifies the value of the electric field intensity. In the third edition of "A Treatise on Electricity and Magnetism" Maxwell specifies (in modern terminology) that E = cross product of velocity and B minus the derivative with respect to time of the vector potential minus the gradiant of the scalar potential.
Was the assumption that the potential already contains the changing value of the magnetic field so that the cross product is redundant? It seems that Maxwell was second-guessed when Gibbs and Heaviside developed the modern variant of the equations.
Was the assumption that the potential already contains the changing value of the magnetic field so that the cross product is redundant? It seems that Maxwell was second-guessed when Gibbs and Heaviside developed the modern variant of the equations.