Would a magnetic charge have the same strength as a electric charge?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the hypothetical existence of magnetic charges and their potential strength compared to electric charges. Participants explore whether magnetic charges would follow the same principles as electric charges, particularly in relation to Coulomb's law and the constants involved.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants question if magnetic charges would have the same strength as electric charges and whether they could be incorporated into Coulomb's law.
  • Others suggest that if magnetic charges do not exist, it is uncertain how their strength would compare to electric charges.
  • A participant proposes that if magnetic charges existed, the permeability of free space would be used instead of permittivity in calculations.
  • Another participant references Dirac's work, suggesting that the existence of magnetic monopoles would imply a quantization of electric charges, presenting a formula that relates electric and magnetic charges.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express differing views on the existence and implications of magnetic charges, leading to multiple competing perspectives without a consensus on their strength relative to electric charges.

Contextual Notes

The discussion includes assumptions about the existence of magnetic charges and their theoretical implications, which remain unresolved. The relationship between electric and magnetic charges is contingent on further theoretical developments.

Thesnake22
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If magnetic charges existed, would the strength of the field be the same as a electric charge? Would you be able to plug it into the equation of coulomb's law? If so, what would the constant be? The same?
 
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Well if they don't exist, then who's to say that they would have the same strength as the E.M.F.?
 
Thesnake22 said:
If magnetic charges existed, would the strength of the field be the same as a electric charge? Would you be able to plug it into the equation of coulomb's law? If so, what would the constant be? The same?

You would need to use the permeability of free space rather than the permittivity, but otherwise yes.
 
Using quantum theory, Dirac has shown that the existence of a magnetic monopole implies the quantization of electrical charges. This would be great, because there is no explanation for a quantization of charges from any fundamental principle within the standard model of elementary particles yet (despite the fact that the charge pattern is restricted by the demand of an anomaly free chiral gauge group for the electroweak sector). Dirac's analysis shows that the strength of the magnetic monopole would be given by the then quantized electric charge of elementary particles. This rule reads (in Gaussian units)
e g_n =\frac{n}{2} \hbar c,
where e is the elementary electric charge and g_n possible values for the magnetic charge with n \in \mathbb{Z}.
 

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