Determination and verification of the electrodynamic postulates
Date of Completion
January 1998
Keywords
Engineering, Electronics and Electrical|Physics, Electricity and Magnetism
Degree
Ph.D.
Abstract
The foundation of this research is a set of fundamental postulates from which electromagnetic theories can be derived. This set includes postulates on the following: (i) Velocity of light in vacuum, (ii) Kinematics of source and/or receiver, (iii) Temporal/spacial differentiation. ^ The objective is to demonstrate which particular postulates will be able to correctly formulate a generalized electrodynamic theory based on Galilean relativity, which is consistent with the concept of universal time. This is significant because classical electromagnetic theory, in its current formulation, is inadequate in many regards: (1) Classical electromagnetism does not permit the establishment of universal time. (2) Explanation of crucial experiments is not postulate unique. (3) Quantities in classical electromagnetic theory are not coordinate invariant. (4) Longitudinal forces in current-carrying wires have been observed. (5) Mathematical problems with taking derivatives of functions with multiple-nested dependency. ^ (i) Velocity of light. In current electromagnetic theory it is tacitly assumed (although not always explicitly stated) that the speed of light is always constant in all co-ordinate systems regardless of the motion of the source or receiver. This particular postulate is known as the velocity invariance of light, and is the cornerstone of special relativity. There is very little directly known about the speed of light and the interpretation of indirect experimental data, which does exist, is ambiguous. Even the often cited landmark experiments, with meson decay and atomic clocks in motion, do not prove the constancy of the speed of light. Rather, they only demonstrate that if the speed of light is invariant, then the conclusion that time “dilates” and length “contracts” as a function of velocity, must necessarily follow. This is just a consequence of the postulate, and does not prove its validity. ^ (ii) Kinematics of source and/or receiver kinematics. is the study of mathematical relationships between point coordinates and their temporal derivatives. All dynamic quantities (those that involve mass) must ultimately be expressed in kinematical terms. In order for physical quantities to be meaningful they must be co-ordinate system independent. This principle will be the basis for developing the dynamic equations of this research. ^ (iii) Temporal and spacial differentiation. Differentiation of multi-variate functions, whose variables are also multiple-nested functions of position and time, in order to obtain the gradient, divergence, curl, and Laplacians, is necessary when the spacial variation of temporal retardation has to be considered. ^ In summary, a painstaking, thorough search into the literature must be done to find experiments whose results can clearly distinguish between postulates and actually test the validity of their premise. Additionally, new experiments may have to be designed to supplement this research in order to fulfill its objective. Likewise, a mathematical model must be developed that is consistent with all existing information, and be sufficiently general to predict new, yet undiscovered, phenomena. ^
Recommended Citation
Mann, Philip Jay, "Determination and verification of the electrodynamic postulates" (1998). Doctoral Dissertations. AAI9940370.
https://digitalcommons.lib.uconn.edu/dissertations/AAI9940370