Maxwell's equations

[romsofia]

Which form do you prefer, the integral form or differential form?

EDIT: Forgot to say I prefer the integral form.

[fluidistic]

You forgot the tensor form! :D

[Drakkith]

Where's the option for "Who's Maxwell and what do these two terms mean"?

[romsofia]

You forgot the tensor form! :D

I'm unfamiliar with the tensor form o.o! It would probably make little sense to me :P



Where's the option for "Who's Maxwell and what do these two terms mean"?

They're 4 equations, and that ain't in this poll :P.

[WannabeNewton]

I would have liked to see the differential forms version of Maxwell's equations, very elegant way of expressing them. But since they aren't up there I would have to go with the differential form because the del operator looks cool =D

[atyy]

Where's the option for "Who's Maxwell and what do these two terms mean"?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZD5hz8EnyaE

[yungman]

You need to use both.

[Drakkith]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZD5hz8EnyaE

WTF was that?

[Jimmy Snyder]

Which one of Maxwell's equations is your favorite? Mine is Faraday's equation.

[Pranav-Arora]

Like the differential form!! Altough i have just started them. MIT lectures are great!! :smile:

[clancy688]

Integral... how the hell am I supposed to calculate with the differential form without my head imploding? :redface:

Favourite one: Gauss's Law - the easiest concept to grasp imho. :shy:

[dextercioby]

What's more beautiful than dF= 0 and \delta F=j ? :wink:

[I like Serena]

I like this one best:
\square A^\alpha = \mu_0 J^\alpha
That is, all of Maxwell's equations rolled into one simple equation! :smile:

[WannabeNewton]

What's more beautiful than dF= 0 and \delta F=j ? :wink:

Is \delta F the same as d(\star F) ?

[dextercioby]

Essentially, up to a possible minus sign depending on the dimension of spacetime and metric signature , delta = * d * .

[dextercioby]

I like this one best:
\square A^\alpha = \mu_0 J^\alpha
That is, all of Maxwell's equations rolled into one simple equation! :smile:

Well, not really, the fundamental gauge symmetry is missing in your equation.

[I like Serena]

Well, not really, the fundamental gauge symmetry is missing in your equation.

I'm not familiar with fundamental gauge symmetry yet.
What is it?

Is it part of Maxwell's equations?

[Antiphon]

The integral form is easier to visualize because the curls turn into line and surface integrals which naturally illustrate relationships between things like enclosed current and MMF.

[dextercioby]

I'm not familiar with fundamental gauge symmetry yet.
What is it?

Is it part of Maxwell's equations?

Yes, the reason we use potentials is quantum mechanics and quantum field theory. A quantum theory of the electromagnetic field cannot be built without dealing with the gauge symmetry first.

[cragar]

I like how we call them Maxwell's equations even tho it was Faraday and Heaviside that pretty much came up with them.

[Pengwuino]

I like this one best:
\square A^\alpha = \mu_0 J^\alpha
That is, all of Maxwell's equations rolled into one simple equation! :smile:

As dexter was hinting at, Maxwell's equations can't be uniquely defined by that condition.

As far as the thread is concerned, the integral form of anything is noob-sauce.

[I like Serena]

What's more beautiful than dF= 0 and \delta F=j ? :wink:

Aha!!!
I had to read up on Maxwell's equations again before I understood (again).
There (wiki) I also found your equations, which were not familiar to me.

But now I understand that your 2 equations are an alternate form that represent all of Maxwell's equations! :smile: