Related papers: Comment on "Defining the electromagnetic potential…
"Physical theories of fundamental significance tend to be gauge theories. These are theories in which the physical system being dealt with is described by more variables than there are physically independent degree of freedom. The…
The fallacies associated with the gauge concept in electromagnetism are illustrated. A clearer and more valid formulation of the basics of classical electromagnetism is provided by recognizing existing physical constraints as well as the…
We demonstrate for the first time and unexpectedly that the Principle of Relativity dictates the choice of the "gauge conditions" in the canonical example of a Gauge Theory namely Classical Electromagnetism. All the known "gauge conditions"…
The concept of gauge invariance in classical electrodynamics assumes tacitly that Maxwell's equations have unique solutions. By calculating the electromagnetic field of a moving particle both in Lorenz and in Coulomb gauge and directly from…
It is shown that in semi-classical electrodynamics, which describes how electrically charged particles move according to the laws of quantum mechanics under the influence of a prescribed classical electromagnetic field, only a restricted…
Are the electromagnetic scalar and vector potentials dispensable? Lev Vaidman has suggested that local interactions of gauge-invariant quantities, e.g. magnetic torques, suffice for the description of all quantum electromagnetic phenomena.…
It is shown that electromagnetic potentials convey physical information beyond that supplied by electric and magnetic fields alone, and are thus more fundamental. Observable physical properties can impose conditions on the selection of…
In the self-sufficient potential formalism, treating all electromagnetic phenomena as natural or forced oscillations of some distributed electromagnetic oscillating system (Minkowski space-time), the electromagnetic potential must be…
Gauge invariance, a core principle in electrodynamics, has two separate meanings. One concept treats the photon as the gauge particle for electrodynamics. It is based on symmetries of the Lagrangian, and requires no mention of electric or…
The structure of classical electrodynamics based on the variational principle together with causality and space-time homogeneity is analyzed. It is proved that in this case the 4-potentials are defined uniquely. On the other hand, the…
The structure of classical electrodynamics based on the variational principle together with causality and space-time homogeneity is analyzed. It is proved that in this case the 4-potentials are defined uniquely. On the other hand, the…
The importance of the potential is revealed in a newly discovered effect of the potential. This paper explore the same issue introduced in quant-ph/9506038 from several different aspects including electron optics and relativity. Some people…
Multiple bases are presented for the conclusion that potentials are fundamental in electrodynamics, with electric and magnetic fields as quantities auxiliary to the scalar and vector potentials -- opposite to the conventional ordering. One…
An axiomatic approach to electrodynamics reveals that Maxwell electrodynamics is just one instance of a variety of theories for which the name electrodynamics is justified. They all have in common that their fundamental input are Maxwell's…
Phenomena in gauge theory are often described in the physics literature via a specific choice of gauge. In foundational and philosophical discussions this is often criticized as introducing gauge dependence, and contrasted against (often…
We show that there exists a choice of gauge in which the electromagnetic 4-potential may be written as the difference of two 4-velocity vector fields describing the motion of a two-component space-filling relativistic fluid. Maxwell's…
In this work we revisit the process of constructing wave equations for the scalar and vector potentials of an electromagnetic field, and show that a wave equation with an arbitrary velocity (including a velocity higher than the velocity of…
We consider a model of classical noncommutative particle in an external electromagnetic field. For this model, we prove the existence of generalized gauge transformations. Classical dynamics in Hamiltonian and Lagrangian form is discussed,…
Gauge theory underpins the quantum field theories of the standard model, and in a previous paper was shown via a geometric approach to describe classical electromagnetism in a form which approximates QED. Here we formalize and generalize…
The problem of defining a gauge invariant effective potential with a strict energetic interpretation is examined in the context of spontaneously broken gauge theories. It is shown that such a potential can be defined in terms of a composite…