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PHYS 415: Electromagnetic Theory I
Prof. S. Teitel: stte@pas.rochester.edu ---- Fall 2023

Problem Set 8

Due Wednesday, November 22, uploaded to Blackboard by noon

  • Problem 1 [10 points]

    Two infinite parallel wires carrying currents I1 and I2 are separated by a distance d. Compute the flux of electromagnetic momentum -∫daTn passing from wire 1 to wire 2 through an infinite plane half way between the wires; the normal n to the plane is in the direction d. Consider both the cases where the currents are parallel and anti-parallel. Interpret your answer.

    6-1 picture

  • Problem 2 [20 points]

    Consider, as a classical model of an electron, a uniformly charged spherical shell with charge e and radius R, spinning with angular velocity ω.

    a) Compute the total energy contained in the electromagnetic fields.

    b) Compute the total angular momentum contained in the electromagnetic fields. If Π is the electromagnetic momentum density, then r×Π is the angular momentum density.

    c) According to Einstein, the rest energy of a particle is related to its rest mass by E=mc2. If one assumes that all the rest mass m is due to the energy of the electron's electromagnetic field computed in (a), compute the radius R of the electron.

    d) Assuming that the total angular momentum computed in (b) is equal to the intrinsic angular momentum of the electron, ℏ/2, compute the angular velocity ω of the electron.

    e) Are your results in (c) and (d) physically reasonable for the electron?