Form of energy momentum tensor of matter in EM fields

Click For Summary
SUMMARY

The discussion centers on the lack of consensus regarding the form of the energy-momentum tensor for polarizable media in electromagnetic fields. Various sources, including Kluitenberg's papers from the 1950s and works by Israel and Dixon in the 1970s, present differing expressions. Notably, "Classical Field Theory" by Davison Soper identifies seven contributions, while A.M. Anile's "Relativistic fluids and magnetofluids" lists four terms. Recent formulations in magnetohydrodynamics simplify these expressions, yet discrepancies remain, particularly in symmetry and terms used, such as the replacement of the last term in some papers with ##\frac{g^{\mu \nu}}{4} F^{\rho \sigma} H_{\rho \sigma}##. Ultimately, there is no scientific consensus on the energy-momentum tensor for polarizable fluids in electromagnetic fields.

PREREQUISITES
  • Understanding of energy-momentum tensors in general relativity
  • Familiarity with electromagnetic field theory
  • Knowledge of magnetohydrodynamics principles
  • Proficiency in tensor calculus and notation
NEXT STEPS
  • Research the contributions of Kluitenberg to energy-momentum tensors
  • Examine the formulations presented in "Classical Field Theory" by Davison Soper
  • Study the implications of the projection operator ##\Delta^{\mu\nu}## in fluid dynamics
  • Explore recent papers on magnetohydrodynamics for updated tensor formulations
USEFUL FOR

Physicists, researchers in electromagnetism, and students of general relativity seeking clarity on the energy-momentum tensor in polarizable media within electromagnetic fields.

Sunny Singh
Messages
19
Reaction score
1
TL;DR
I'm trying to understand if there is a scientific consensus on the form of the energy momentum tensor for a polarizable matter in electromagnetic fields
I've been reading about the form of the energy momentum tensor for a polarizable medium in electromagnetic fields and i'm not sure if there is a scientific consensus on its form. Starting from the series of papers by Kluitenberg in the 1950s to works by Israel and Dixon in the 70s... various sources give various expressions for the form of the energy momentum tensor. In "Classical Field Theory" by Davison Soper, there are 7 different contributions to the energy momentum tensor while in "Relativistic fluids and magnetofluids" by A.M.Anile, there are four such terms which don't seem to agree with others' works. More recent papers on magnetohydrodynamics use the following form of the matter + field ##T^{\mu\nu}##: $$ T^{\mu\nu} = \varepsilon u^\mu u^\nu-P \Delta^{\mu \nu}-\frac{1}{2}\left(M^{\mu \lambda} F_\lambda{ }^\nu+M^{\nu \lambda} F_\lambda{ }^\mu\right) -F^{\mu \lambda} F_{\;\lambda}^\nu+\frac{g^{\mu \nu}}{4} F^{\rho \sigma} F_{\rho \sigma}$$
And some papers like https://arxiv.org/pdf/0812.0801 uses $$ T^{\mu\nu} = \varepsilon u^\mu u^\nu-P \Delta^{\mu \nu}-M^{\mu \lambda} F_\lambda{ }^\nu -F^{\mu \lambda} F_{\;\lambda}^\nu+\frac{g^{\mu \nu}}{4} F^{\rho \sigma} F_{\rho \sigma}$$
Which doesn't even look symmetric. And according to "Dynamics of Polarisation" -- General Relativity and Gravitation, 9, 5 (1978) by Israel, the last term gets replaced by ##\frac{g^{\mu \nu}}{4} F^{\rho \sigma} H_{\rho \sigma}## when minkowski tensor is considered. These modern expressions look way more simplified than some of the older sources' forms.
My question is if there is a scientific consensus on what the energy-momentum tensor of such a polarizable fluid in electromagnetic fields look like. Any help or direction will be greatly appreciated since i'm thoroughly confused now.

The metric i used is the westcoast metric and ##\Delta^{\mu\nu}=g^{\mu\nu}-u^\mu u^\nu## is the projection operator orthogonal to fluid flow.
 
Physics news on Phys.org
Frabjous said:
I was also going to suggest that exact same paper.

The bottom line is that there is no agreed upon form for either the matter tensor or the field tensor separately. But the matter+field tensor is well defined
 
  • Like
Likes   Reactions: Sunny Singh and Frabjous

Similar threads

  • · Replies 1 ·
Replies
1
Views
577
  • · Replies 1 ·
Replies
1
Views
1K
  • · Replies 9 ·
Replies
9
Views
1K
  • · Replies 3 ·
Replies
3
Views
2K
  • · Replies 16 ·
Replies
16
Views
2K
  • · Replies 8 ·
Replies
8
Views
2K
  • · Replies 3 ·
Replies
3
Views
453
  • · Replies 38 ·
2
Replies
38
Views
1K
Replies
7
Views
2K
  • · Replies 1 ·
Replies
1
Views
2K