Article
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Maxwell's Equations, Stokes' Theorem, and the Conservation of Charge
Version 1
: Received: 14 September 2018 / Approved: 16 September 2018 / Online: 16 September 2018 (08:12:22 CEST)
Version 2 : Received: 5 March 2019 / Approved: 11 March 2019 / Online: 11 March 2019 (10:36:30 CET)
Version 2 : Received: 5 March 2019 / Approved: 11 March 2019 / Online: 11 March 2019 (10:36:30 CET)
How to cite: Gratus, J.; Kinsler, P.; McCall, M. W. Maxwell's Equations, Stokes' Theorem, and the Conservation of Charge. Preprints 2018, 2018090278. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints201809.0278.v1 Gratus, J.; Kinsler, P.; McCall, M. W. Maxwell's Equations, Stokes' Theorem, and the Conservation of Charge. Preprints 2018, 2018090278. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints201809.0278.v1
Abstract
A careful examination of the fundamentals of electromagnetic theory shows that due to the underlying mathematical assumptions required for Stokes' Theorem, charge conservation cannot be guaranteed in topologically non-trivial spacetimes. However, in order to break the charge conservation mechanism we must also allow the electromagnetic excitation fields DH to possess a gauge freedom, just as the electromagnetic scalar and vector potentials $\varphi$ and $\emVec{A}$ do. This has implications for the treatment of electromagnetism in spacetimes where black holes both form and then evaporate, as well as extending the possibilities for treating vacuum polarisation. Using this gauge freedom of DH we also propose an alternative to the accepted notion that a charge passing through a wormhole necessarily leads to an additional (effective) charge on the wormhole's mouth.
Keywords
electromagnetism; topology; charge-conservation; constitutive relations; gauge freedom
Subject
Physical Sciences, Mathematical Physics
Copyright: This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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