A Taxonomy of Magnetostatic Field Lines

2025/12/31 by Joel Franklin, David Griffiths, Darrell Schroeter · 1 voice
Physics and Astronomy · #physics.class-ph

paper · pdf · doi:10.1119/5.0186335

Abstract

Contrary to widespread belief, magnetostatic field lines do not ordinarily form closed loops. Why, then, are they in fact closed for so many familiar examples? What other topologies are possible, and what current configurations generate them?

Citations

• Ubiquity of chaotic magnetic-field lines generated by three-dimensionally crossed wires in modern electric circuits
• Of flying frogs and levitrons

Cited by

• The CUBE Virtual Reality Immersion

Discussions

• Joel Franklin, David Griffiths, Darrell Schroeter: A Taxonomy of Magnetostatic Field Lines https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.00903 https://arxiv.org/pdf/2601.00903 https://arxiv.org/html/2601.00903 [bsky, 0 points, 0 comments]

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