- #1
GregAshmore
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I'm reading Max Born's "Einstein's Theory of Relativity", 1962 version. On page 297 he says that a wire with a current in it is electrically neutral and surrounded by only a magnetic field.
Yet on page 161 he says that current in a wire is the result of an electric field.
It would seem that the wire on page 297, with its electric current, must be in an electric field.
What am I missing?
The context on page 297 is the electrical charge which is seen by an observer moving relative to the wire. That charge produces an electric field around the wire. Is he ignoring, for the sake of discussion, the electric field which produces the current in order to focus on the electric field produced by the charge in the wire?
Yet on page 161 he says that current in a wire is the result of an electric field.
It would seem that the wire on page 297, with its electric current, must be in an electric field.
What am I missing?
The context on page 297 is the electrical charge which is seen by an observer moving relative to the wire. That charge produces an electric field around the wire. Is he ignoring, for the sake of discussion, the electric field which produces the current in order to focus on the electric field produced by the charge in the wire?
