Electromagnetic force density in dissipative isotropic media
Abstract
We derive an expression for the macroscopic force density that a narrow-band electromagnetic field imposes on a dissipative isotropic medium. The result is obtained by averaging the microscopic form for Lorentz force density. The derived expression allows us to calculate realistic electromagnetic forces in a wide range of materials that are described by complex-valued electric permittivity and magnetic permeability. The three-dimensional energy-momentum tensor in our expression reduces for lossless media to the so-called Helmholtz tensor that has not been contradicted in any experiment so far. The momentum density of the field does not coincide with any well-known expression, but for non-magnetic materials it matches the Abraham expression.
Cite
@article{arxiv.1012.4258,
title = {Electromagnetic force density in dissipative isotropic media},
author = {Andriy Shevchenko and Matti Kaivola},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1012.4258},
year = {2015}
}