Maxwell's equations in differential form

Maxwell's equations in differential , or point, form are:

(1.1)

(1.2)

(1.3)

(1.4)

where
= electric field (in V/m) ,

= magnetic field (in A/m),

=
electric flux density (in ),

=
magnetic flux density (in ),

=
electric charge density (in ),

=
electric current density (in ),

=
magnetic charge density (in ),

=
magnetic charge density (in ),

and all eight quantities are, in general, functions of position and time t. The operator

is the del or ``nabla'' operator, is the divergence operator, and is the curl
operator.

Presently, there is no experimental evidence to confirm the existence of isolated

magnetic charges; therefore, many authors set both and equal to zero at the
onset, in equations (1.1) and (1.4). There are, however, at least two reasons for

retaining and : first, symmetry between electric and magnetic quantities is

retained in (1.2-1.4); second, equivalent magnetic sources appear in a variety of
applications, such as radiation and scattering from aperture antennas or penetrable
bodies.

By taking of (1.1) and using (1.3) and the identity , and by

assuming the interchangeability of space and time differentiation, we obtain the
continuity equation

(1.5)

which expresses conservation of electric charge . Similarly, from (1.1) and (1.4) we
obtain the continuity equation

(1.6)

which expresses the conservation of magnetic charge .

Conversely, by taking of (1.1) and using (1.5), or of (1.2) and using (1.6), we

find out that the two quantities and are independent of

time; hence (1.3) and (1.4) follow, provided that they be valid at a given time (this is
the case if, for example, the universe has a finite lifetime). Thus, we may consider
(1.1-1.4) as the fundamental equations of electromagnetism, in which case (1.5) and
(1.6) are derivative equations, or we may consider the curl equations (1.1) and (1.2)
and the continuity equations (1.5) and (1.6) as the fundamentals equations, in in which
case the divergence equations (1.3) and (1.4) become derivative equations on the
assumption of a finite lifetime for our universe. We shall consider (1.1-1.4) as our
fundamental equations.

Equations (1.1-1.4) are necessary but not sufficient for the determination of the eight
field quantities (six vectors and two scalars) which appear in them. We still must
specify the primary sources of the electromagnetic fields, as well as the physical
properties of the medium in which the field exists; these physical properties take the
form of functional relations among the various field quantities, called constitutive
relations, which will be examined detail in Chapter 2. Meanwhile, we observe that in
vacuo (or free) the constitutive relations are:

(1.7)
where and are two constants called the electric permettivity and the magnetic

permeability of free space. The values of and depend on the system of units
adopted. We use the rationalized MKSA system in which

(1.8)

by definition, while is obtained from the formula

(1.9)

where is the velocity of light in free space ( ); is measured

in .

Maxwell's equations in free space are obtained by substituting (1.7) into (1.1-1.4):

(1.10)

(1.11)

(1.12)

(1.13)
Maxwell's equations in integral form
Consider a fixed volume bounded by the closed surface , whose outward unit
normal is as shown in Fig. 1.1.

Figure 1.1: Geometry for Gauss theorem.

Integration of (1.3,1.4) and (1.5,1.6) over , followed by the use of the divergence
theorem, yields:

(1.14)

(1.15)

(1.16)

(1.17)

where and are the total electric charge (in C) and magnetic charge (in Wb)
inside the volume , respectively.
Equation (1.14) means that the total electric charge contained in equals the outgoing

flux of through the surface of . A similar interpretation applies to (1.15); since

is zero, the total outgoing flux of through any fixed closed surface is zero.

Equation (1.16) means that the rate of decrease of the total electric charge inside
equals the amount of electric charge which leaves in unit time by traveling
outward through ; thus, (1.3) is obviously a statement of conservation of electric

charge. A similar interpretation applies to (1.17); since is zero, the outgoing flux

of through is also zero.

As a particular application of (1.14), consider a point charge located at the center

of a sphere of radius in free space. Because of symmetry is radially directed and

has the same magnitude at all points on . Hence (1.14) gives:

(1.18)

and, with the use of (1.7):

(1.19)

which is Coulomb's law of electrostatic.

Let us now consider a fixed open surface bounded by a closed curve , as shown in
Fig. 1.2. The unit normal on and the unit tangent along are chosen according
to the right-handed corkscrew rule. Integration of (1.1-1.2) over and use of Stokes'
theorem yields:

(1.20)

(1.21)

Figure 1.2: Geometry for Stokes theorem.

For time-invariant, or stationary, fields, eq. (1.20) becomes:

(1.22)

where is the total electric current which flows through the closed loop . Equation
(1.22) is Ampre's law, whose generalization to time-varying fields requires the
addition of the second term in the right-hand side of (1.20); this added term, whose
existence was postulated by Maxwell in 1861, is called the displacement current.

For the case , equation (1.21) is Lenz's law which in turn represents a
generalization of Kirchhoff's second law of circuit theory to the case of time-varying
fields by the inclusion of an induction term.