Magnetic field caused by one Electron ?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the magnetic field generated by a moving electron, both in a linear path and due to its intrinsic spin. Participants explore the application of established laws such as the Biot-Savart law and Ampère's law in this context, questioning the nature and magnitude of the magnetic field produced by an electron.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • One participant inquires about the magnetic field produced by an electron moving in a straight line, suggesting it should not be permanent.
  • Another participant suggests that the Biot-Savart law can be applied to a point charge by substituting the current with an appropriate equivalence, although they note limitations for constant non-relativistic velocity.
  • A different participant mentions that for a uniformly moving charge, the electric and magnetic fields can be derived from the stationary charge's electric field through Lorentz transformation, highlighting the quantum-mechanical nature of the electron's intrinsic magnetic dipole moment.
  • One participant asserts that the moving electron produces a magnetic field akin to that from an infinitesimal current element in the Biot-Savart law, proposing a method to analyze the field through electric flux changes in a loop.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express various viewpoints on how to calculate the magnetic field of a moving electron, with no consensus reached on the best approach or the implications of the electron's spin.

Contextual Notes

There are limitations regarding the assumptions made about the electron's motion, the applicability of classical laws to quantum phenomena, and the treatment of the electron's magnetic dipole moment in the context of field equations.

Mahbod|Druid
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Hi

I have read Bio-Savar , Amper law (also maxwell) about Magnetic fields

but all of them had I
bio-savar :
B = [tex]\frac{[tex]\mu[/tex]<sub>0</sub>}{4[tex]\pi[/tex]<br /> }[/tex] [tex]\frac{ids Sin\theta}{r<sup>2</sup>}[/tex]

Amper :
[tex]\int[/tex] B.ds = Iin [tex]\mu[/tex]0

but what about a Electron moving in a line path ? how big will be its magnetic field ? it musnt be permenent though



and what about a Electron spining around itself ? this time it must be permenant but how big what are the vectors ?

Thanks
 
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You can still use the Biot-Savart law for a point charge. You just replace the current with the appropriate equivalence. I think the wikipedia article has the equation:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biot-Savart_law

That's for constant non-relativistic velocity though. I can't remember the equation for an arbitrary path/velocity.
 
For a uniformly moving charge, you can calculate the E and B fields by starting with the E field for a stationary charge, and performing a Lorentz transformation:

http://farside.ph.utexas.edu/teaching/em/lectures/node125.html

The electron has a fixed intrinsic magnetic dipole moment, but the "spin" that it arises from is quantum-mechanical in nature.

http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/Hbase/spin.html

I'm not sure how much sense it makes to insert this dipole moment into the equations for the field of a magnetic dipole, because of its small size.

http://scienceworld.wolfram.com/physics/MagneticDipole.html
 
Last edited:
I'm pretty sure the moving electron gives you exactly the type of field you get from the infinitesimal current element of Boit-Savart. You can set up a loop anywhere along the axis of symmetry and there will be a rate of increase of electric flux through this loop. The magnetic field integrated around the loop (constant field x 2pi*r) is equal to the increase of electric flux.
 

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