Radiation pressure and the linear momentum of the electromagnetic field in magnetic media
arXiv:1401.7734 · doi:10.1364/OE.15.013502
Abstract
We examine the force of the electromagnetic radiation on linear, isotropic, homogeneous media specified in terms of their permittivity epsilon and permeability mu. A formula is proposed for the electromagnetic Lorentz force on the magnetization M, which is treated here as an Amperian current loop. Using the proposed formula, we demonstrate conservation of momentum in several cases that are amenable to rigorous analysis based on the classical Maxwell equations, the Lorentz law of force, and the constitutive relations. Our analysis yields precise expressions for the density of the electromagnetic and mechanical momenta inside the media that are specified by their (epsilon, mu) parameters. An interesting consequence of this analysis is the identification of an "intrinsic" mechanical momentum density, ExM/c^2, analogous to the electromagnetic (or Abraham) momentum density, ExH/c^2. (Here E and H are the magnitudes of the electric and magnetic fields, respectively, and c is the speed of light in vacuum.) This intrinsic mechanical momentum, associated with the magnetization M in the presence of an electric field E, is apparently the same "hidden" momentum that was predicted by W. Shockley and R.P. James nearly four decades ago.
16 pages, 5 figures, 48 equations, 24 references
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- Whence the Minkowski Momentum?
- Spin Angular Momentum Transfer and Plasmogalvanic Phenomena
- Nature of Electric and Magnetic Dipoles Gleaned from the Poynting Theorem and the Lorentz Force Law of Classical Electrodynamics
- Division of the Energy and of the Momentum of Electromagnetic Waves in Linear Media into Electromagnetic and Material Parts
- On the Foundational Equations of the Classical Theory of Electrodynamics
- Trouble with the Lorentz Law of Force: Response to Critics
- Energy, Momentum, and Force in Classical Electrodynamics: Application to Negative-index Media
- Unraveling the Angular Symmetry of Optical Force in a Solid Dielectric
- The Lorentz force law and its connections to hidden momentum, the Einstein-Laub force, and the Aharonov-Casher effect
- Radiation pressure on a submerged absorptive partial reflector deduced from the Doppler shift
- Generalized Lorentz law and the force of radiation on magnetic dielectrics
- Duality, decay rates and local-field models in macroscopic QED
- Theory of the radiation pressure on magneto-dielectric materials