Maxwell's equations

Which form?

7 vote(s)
30.4%
2. Differential

16 vote(s)
69.6%
1. Jun 23, 2011

romsofia

Which form do you prefer, the integral form or differential form?

EDIT: Forgot to say I prefer the integral form.

Last edited: Jun 23, 2011
2. Jun 23, 2011

fluidistic

You forgot the tensor form! :D

3. Jun 23, 2011

Drakkith

Staff Emeritus
Where's the option for "Who's Maxwell and what do these two terms mean"?

4. Jun 23, 2011

romsofia

I'm unfamiliar with the tensor form o.o! It would probably make little sense to me :P

They're 4 equations, and that ain't in this poll :P.

5. Jun 23, 2011

WannabeNewton

I would have liked to see the differential forms version of Maxwell's equations, very elegant way of expressing them. But since they aren't up there I would have to go with the differential form because the del operator looks cool =D

6. Jun 23, 2011

atyy

Last edited by a moderator: Sep 25, 2014
7. Jun 24, 2011

yungman

You need to use both.

8. Jun 24, 2011

Drakkith

Staff Emeritus
WTF was that?

Last edited by a moderator: Sep 25, 2014
9. Jun 24, 2011

Jimmy Snyder

Which one of Maxwell's equations is your favorite? Mine is Faraday's equation.

10. Jun 24, 2011

Saitama

Like the differential form!! Altough i have just started them. MIT lectures are great!!

11. Jun 24, 2011

clancy688

Integral... how the hell am I supposed to calculate with the differential form without my head imploding?

Favourite one: Gauss's Law - the easiest concept to grasp imho. :shy:

Last edited: Jun 24, 2011
12. Jun 24, 2011

dextercioby

What's more beautiful than $dF= 0$ and $\delta F=j$ ?

13. Jun 24, 2011

I like Serena

I like this one best:
$$\square A^\alpha = \mu_0 J^\alpha$$
That is, all of Maxwell's equations rolled into one simple equation!

14. Jun 24, 2011

WannabeNewton

Is $\delta F$ the same as $d(\star F)$?

15. Jun 24, 2011

dextercioby

Essentially, up to a possible minus sign depending on the dimension of spacetime and metric signature , delta = * d * .

16. Jun 24, 2011

dextercioby

Well, not really, the fundamental gauge symmetry is missing in your equation.

17. Jun 24, 2011

I like Serena

I'm not familiar with fundamental gauge symmetry yet.
What is it?

Is it part of Maxwell's equations?

18. Jun 24, 2011

Antiphon

The integral form is easier to visualize because the curls turn into line and surface integrals which naturally illustrate relationships between things like enclosed current and MMF.

Last edited: Jun 24, 2011
19. Jun 24, 2011

dextercioby

Yes, the reason we use potentials is quantum mechanics and quantum field theory. A quantum theory of the electromagnetic field cannot be built without dealing with the gauge symmetry first.

20. Jun 25, 2011

cragar

I like how we call them Maxwell's equations even tho it was Faraday and Heaviside that pretty much came up with them.

21. Jun 25, 2011

Pengwuino

As dexter was hinting at, Maxwell's equations can't be uniquely defined by that condition.

As far as the thread is concerned, the integral form of anything is noob-sauce.

22. Jun 25, 2011

I like Serena

Aha!!!
I had to read up on Maxwell's equations again before I understood (again).
There (wiki) I also found your equations, which were not familiar to me.

But now I understand that your 2 equations are an alternate form that represent all of Maxwell's equations!