Ampere's law for a point charge

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SUMMARY

Ampere's law does not hold for a moving point charge without considering the effects of the electric field. The magnetic field generated by a point charge q moving with velocity \mathbf{v} is expressed as \mathbf{B}=\frac{\mu_0 q}{4\pi r^3} \mathbf{v}\times \mathbf {r}. When applying Ampere's law to a circular loop around the charge, the integral \oint \mathbf{B}\cdot d \mathbf{r} results in \frac{\mu_0 q v}{2r}, which is insufficient without accounting for the time-varying electric field. The correct approach involves using Maxwell's generalization of Ampere's Law, which incorporates the rate of change of electric flux.

PREREQUISITES
  • Understanding of Ampere's Law and its traditional applications
  • Familiarity with Maxwell's equations, particularly the generalization of Ampere's Law
  • Knowledge of electromagnetic fields generated by moving charges
  • Basic calculus, specifically integration of vector fields
NEXT STEPS
  • Study Maxwell's equations in detail, focusing on the time-varying electric field component
  • Explore the derivation and implications of the Dirac delta function in electromagnetic theory
  • Investigate the relationship between electric and magnetic fields in electrodynamics
  • Learn about the Lorentz force law and its application to moving charges
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Physicists, electrical engineers, and students studying electromagnetism who seek to deepen their understanding of the interactions between electric and magnetic fields, particularly in the context of moving charges.

dEdt
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I'm having some trouble confirming Ampere's law for a moving point charge.

Let's say we have a point charge [itex]q[/itex] moving with velocity [itex]\mathbf{v}[/itex]. The magnetic field it creates is given by
[tex]\mathbf{B}=\frac{\mu_0 q}{4\pi r^3} \mathbf{v}\times \mathbf {r}.[/tex]

Now consider a circular loop centred on the point charge and perpendicular to its velocity. Then
[tex]\oint \mathbf{B}\cdot d \mathbf{r}=\frac{\mu_0 q v}{2r}.[/tex]

By Ampere's law, this is proportional to the rate that charge passes through the surface of the closed loop. But this latter quantity is a Dirac delta function, so it seems that Ampere's law doesn't work for point charges!? What did I do wrong?
 
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A moving point charge produces not just a magnetic field, but also an electric field which varies with time at any point. Therefore you have to use Maxwell's generalization of Ampere's Law that includes the rate of change of electric flux through the loop:
$$\oint {\vec B \cdot d \vec l} =
\mu_0 \int {\vec J \cdot d \vec a} +
\mu_0 \epsilon_0 \frac{d}{dt} \int {\vec E \cdot d \vec a}$$
 
Thanks.
 

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