2017/01/30 by J.J. Bisognano, Bisognano, Joseph J.
Engineering · Physics and Astronomy · #Accelerator Physics (physics.acc-ph) #Classical Physics (physics.class-ph) #FOS: Physical sciences #Geophysics and Sensor Technology #Mechanical and Optical Resonators #Optics (physics.optics) #Quantum and Classical Electrodynamics #Scientific Research and Discoveries
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1701.08683
openalex publication_date 2017/01/30 · openalex created_date 2022/08/31 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
After more than a century of debate, there remains continuing discomfort over\nwhat is the correct expression for the electromagnetic momentum in a dielectric\nmedium. This is the so-called the Minkowski-Abraham controversy. We show that\nthere is indeed a consistent picture for the electromagnetic momentum\nassociated with waves in a dielectric, but one must start with the fields E and\nB, not D and H as fundamental objects. The momentum flow is described by a\ntensor TEB, where the expression is identical to that in vacuum. The Minkowski\ntensor and the Abraham force result from a fractured decomposition of the\nmaterial momentum. However, for well localized fields, the Minkowski momentum\nis conserved, consistent with its identification as the canonical momentum.\nSeveral cases are discussed to demonstrate that this perspective is consistent\nand complete. In addition, it is shown that that care must be taken to include\nmomentum transfer to bound charges at dielectric interfaces to correctly\ndescribe, for example, oblique reflections, where there is a normal component\nof the electric field.\n