What are the derivations, uses, and limitations of the extended Coulomb's Law?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion centers on the extended version of Coulomb's Law, particularly its derivations, applications, and limitations in the context of moving charges and magnetism. Participants explore the relationship between this extended law and the Lorentz force equation.

Discussion Character

  • Technical explanation
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • One participant references an equation for the force on a moving charge, suggesting it incorporates terms for moving charges and relates to the Lorentz force equation.
  • Another participant proposes that the equation derives from the nonrelativistic limit of the field of a moving point charge, mentioning the Lorentz boost of the four-vector potential.
  • Some participants challenge the validity of the provided equation, asserting that it is incorrect even in the non-relativistic limit and that corrections involving order v² terms are necessary.
  • One participant requests clarification on what the correct form of the equation should be, indicating a lack of consensus on the initial claim.
  • A later post introduces an alternative equation related to the momentum of charges, suggesting a different approach to the problem.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express disagreement regarding the correctness of the initial equation presented. Multiple competing views on the derivation and validity of the extended Coulomb's Law remain unresolved.

Contextual Notes

There are indications of missing assumptions regarding the conditions under which the extended law is applied, as well as unresolved mathematical steps related to the corrections suggested by participants.

bicabone
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My physics professor gave us an extended version of coulombs law which includes terms to account for moving charges. He then used (or rather compared) this law to the Lorentz force equation to give us a feel for the electrical forces generated by moving charges as he introduced us to magnetism. Does anyone know where I can find more information regarding this following equation (i.e. its derivations, uses, limitations, etc.)

[tex]F_{on 2 by 1} = \frac{1}{4\pi\epsilon_{0}} \frac{q_{1}q_{2}}{r^{2}}[ \widehat{r} + \frac{1}{c^{2}} \cdot \vec{v_{2}} \times ( \vec{v_{1}} \times \widehat{r})][/tex]
 
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This should come from the nonrelativistic limit of the field of a moving point charge, which you most easily obtain by a Lorentz boost of the four-vector potential of a charge at rest:

[tex]{A'}^{\mu}=(q/(4 \pi |\vec{x}'|),0,0,0)[/tex].
 
That equation is never right.
Even in the non-relativistic limit, the second term is of order v^2, so order v^2 corrections to the first term are required.
 
That equation is never right.

Perhaps you can tell us what it should be.
 
[tex]\frac{d{\bf p}}{dt}=<br /> \frac{-qq'[{\bf r}+{\bf v\times(v'\times r)}]}<br /> {\gamma_{v'}^2[{\bf r}^2-({\bf v'\times r)^2}]^{\frac{3}{2}}},[/tex]
 

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