E & M notation: Maxwell's to Heaviside's

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In summary: It was an MIT EE professor who said it was too difficult to do for himself.Here's a link for you:http://www.aw-verlag.ch/Documents/Notation%20of%20Maxwell%20Field%20Equations.PDF
  • #1
mmwave
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Does anyone know of documentation on the steps and process Heaviside used to express Maxwell's Equations in vector notation?

I'm not looking for Maxwell's papers (I've read some and don't understand the notation) and I'm not looking for modern expressions of Maxwell's eq. (available in any E&M textbook) but a sort of blow by blow of the translation of notation.

This is more of an historical interest rather than practical.
(One of the smartest RF engineers I know tried to do his own translation for 'fun' and gave up. I'm sure it's beyond me.)
 
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  • #2
I don't think it's all that difficult. Heaviside just used the vector operator del and expressed Maxwell's Equations with it instead of tediously writing out every partial derivative in the equations. He invented the use of the × for the crossproduct and the dotproduct notation for the divergence.
 
  • #3
Originally posted by Tyger
I don't think it's all that difficult. Heaviside just used the vector operator del and expressed Maxwell's Equations with it instead of tediously writing out every partial derivative in the equations. He invented the use of the × for the crossproduct and the dotproduct notation for the divergence.

I don't think that is correct. Maxwell did not use the modern concept of vector but wrote of 'vortices' and besides there are no quaternions in divergence and curl. :smile:

It was an MIT EE professor who said it was too difficult to do for himself.
 
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  • #5


Originally posted by Tyger
There's more on Google or MSN, just plug in Maxwell's notation.

http://g.msn.com/9SE/1?http://www.a...-12bc-43e2-a0e0-4d747e7bf44f&POS=1&CM=WU&CE=1

It even says that Maxwell used the vector and scalar parts of the equations separately when expressed in quaternion form, so it wasn't difficult for Heaviside to make the conversion.

Is this one link or two? In any case, it didn't work for me, maybe an edit is in order?

I did my own search but didn't turn up anything like you found.
 
  • #6


Originally posted by mmwave
Is this one link or two? In any case, it didn't work for me, maybe an edit is in order?

I did my own search but didn't turn up anything like you found.

Should have mentioned that it is a PDF file, so you need Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is free.
 
  • #7
I have acrobat and download lots of pdf's. Is it all one link? there seems to be two http:// in it.
 
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  • #8
Try again now. For some reason it did post two URLs, but it worked for me. I edited it to one and it now works.
 

1. What is E & M notation?

E & M notation is a shorthand method for writing and calculating electromagnetic equations. It was developed by James Clerk Maxwell and later refined by Oliver Heaviside.

2. How is Maxwell's notation different from Heaviside's notation?

Maxwell's notation uses three-dimensional vectors to represent electric and magnetic fields, while Heaviside's notation uses two-dimensional vectors. Additionally, Maxwell's notation includes more complex equations and is considered to be more mathematically rigorous, while Heaviside's notation is more compact and easier to use in practical applications.

3. What are the advantages of using E & M notation?

E & M notation allows for more efficient and concise representation of electromagnetic equations, making it easier to solve complex problems. It also helps to highlight the relationship between electric and magnetic fields, and their corresponding equations.

4. How is E & M notation used in physics?

E & M notation is used extensively in the study of electromagnetism, a fundamental force in physics. It is particularly useful in analyzing and understanding the behavior of electric and magnetic fields, as well as their interactions with charged particles.

5. Can E & M notation be applied in other fields besides physics?

Yes, E & M notation can also be applied in engineering, specifically in the design and analysis of electrical and electronic systems. It is also used in geophysics and astrophysics to study electromagnetic phenomena in the Earth and space.

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