UNIVERSITY OF MISSISSIPPI
Department of Physics and Astronomy
Grad Electromagnetism I (Phys. 721) Prof. Leo C. Stein Spring 2024
ProblemSet 06
Due: Monday, Apr. 22, 2024, by 06:00PM
As with research, feel free to collaborate and get help from each other! But the solutions you hand in
must be your own work.
Problem 1.
Ihave placed two rings of charge, centered on the origin, laying in the -y plane. The ring of radius
a>0has a totalcharge +g distributed uniformly, and the ring of radius b> a has a total charge -q, also
distributed uniformly. Find the lowest nonvanishing term in the electric potential {æ) at very large distances
r>b, in terms of a, b, qand ¬o, and the coordinate dependence (either in Cartesian or spherical coordinates).
Problem 2: Relation between spherical harmonics and STF tensors.
As usual let'stake n =t/r which depends on (0, d). Consider the combinations
ê, · n = cOs , (e, tiê,) n=et0 sin , (2.1)
where r,êy, ê, are the constant unit basis vectors in the , y, z directions notice that in index notation, éz
is or where a is a vector index, and 1 or z is the basis direction; and similarly for y and z. These
combinations could be used to write Yi0= V3/47 cos and Y+1 =FV3/8re*i0 sin in terms of some
constant STF tensor contracted with a number of copies of n' (in this case, = 1 copies). For example,
consider the constant vectors
vl)=-V3/8m(6; +6), va) = V3/4nð,, y!-1) = +y3/8n(8; - ô) (2.2)
Here the (1,m) are just labels to name the diferent tensors, while a is a vector index. If we now take dot
products between these constant vectors and the n° vector field, we'll get functions of (0, ), namely,
Y(8,o) = y"), Yio(0,o) = V0n°, Y,-1(0, o) = yl-),n. (2.3)
Let's find similar constant tensors for the l=2 spherical harmonics.
15
Y2,+2 = V32m
-et21 sin 0, (2.4)
15
Y,±1 =/esin cos , (2.5)
5
Y2,0 = 3cos0-1). (2.6)
You should find tensors V" (one for each value of m) so that Y.m =)n^nb. Since the coutraction is
with a symmetric combination, n"n, the only parts of y that can contribute are symmetric on the (a, b)
pair of indices. These tensorS must also be tracefree lor else they would have a term that's proportional to
nn which is a constant in (0, o), but only Yo,o is constant]. So, these V(2,m) tensors are synnetric and
tracefree.
Page l of 2
Problenn 3.
Let's explicitly demonstrate that we can pull three factors of n out of the l= 3 term in the Legendre
expansion of the free space Green's function, which contains the integral
(3.1)
Here cos = n': n, and the third Legendre polynomial is
3
P(u) =u
o,3
. (3.2)
Show how to manipulate this I; so that we get the contraction between three copies of n and a rank-3
symmetric, tracefree tensor integral.
Problem 4: Angular momentum conservation with dipole-dipole interactions.
Consider a system of two ideal magnetic dipoles. The first is located at the origin, and points along éz,
mË = m1ê,. The second is a distance r along the z axis, and points along ê., m= mê,.
(a) Calculate the force F, on dipole 2 caused by the field of dipole 1, and the force F on dipole 1 due to
the field of dipole 2. Are these forces equal in magnitude and opposite in direction, as described by
Newton's third law of motion? Do the forces point along the line joining the two dipoles?
(b) In part 4a you should have found that the forces are equal and opposite, but that they do not point along
the line joining the particles. But this raises a question about the conservation of angular momentum,
since the standard proof of the conservation of angular momentum from Newton's laws relies on the
*strong form" of Newton's third law, which requires the force to point along the line of centers. Show,
however, that the conservation of angular momentum is nonetheless valid in this case, if one includes
the torques that each dipole experiences due to the field of the other, T = m x B. Calculate the total
torque on the system, for example about the origin, and show that it vanishes.
Problem 5: Magnetostatic self-force.
(a) Suppose we have a region with some static current distribution J(), and also a static magnetic field
B(¢). The magnetic field may either be generated by the current, or externally generated. What is the
force density (f(æ), force per unit volume) on the current J(T) due to B(¢)?
(b) Now let's focus on the magnetic field generated by the current itself, assuming the current is restricted
to a comnpact region U. Write an integral for the vector potential A(æ) generated by J(æ), in Coulomb
gauge; and write an integral for the magnetic field B(æ) generated by J(z).
(c) Thetotal force is F = [f(z)d'z. Show that the total force vanishes when B(¢) is generated by J(¢)
itself (rather than an external field). That is, the total magnetostatic self-force vanishes.
Page 2 of 2
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