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An Extended Electromagnetic Theory

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 An Extended Electromagnetic Theory
Bo Lehnert ∗
Sisir Roy †
Arkaprabha Deb ‡

Extended formulations of electromagnetic theory in vacuo are presented , as being based

on a nonzero electric field divergence and a nonzero electric conductivity. These two ap-
proaches introduce new features by which some of the so far unanswered questions in
electromagnetic field theory may become settled, and the applications of the same theory
be enlarged. Examples on this are given by the steady states of leptons and string configura-
tions, and by plane and axisymmetric electromagnetic wave phenomena including photon
physics, also with astrophysical applications.

Keywords: photon mass; extended electromagnetic theory

1. Introduction
During more than a century classical electromagnetic theory and its formulation in terms
of Maxwell’s equations have been successfully applied to numerous problems in physics.
Nevertheless there are areas whithin which these equations do not seem to provide a fully
adequate description of physical reality. Thus there are several questions the answers of
which require further research and new modes of approach.

1. Models in terms of conventional theory can not explain the execessively small ob-
served radial dimension of the electron.

2. There is so far no definite theoretical indication whether or not the neutrino should
have a nonzero rest mass.

3. In attempts to develop conventional electrodynamical models of the individual pho-

ton, there is a difficulty in finding solutions which both converge at the photon centre
and vanish at infinity. This was already realized by Thomson1 .

4. Light appears to be made of waves and simultaneously of particles. In conventional

theory the photon is one hand conceived to be a massless particle, still having an
angular momentum, and is on the other hand regarded as a wave having the frequency
ν and the energy hν, whereas its angular momentum is independent of the frequency.

5. The Fresnel laws of reflection and refraction of light in non-dissipative media have
been known for some 180 years. However, these laws will not apply to total reflection
at the boundary between a dissipative medium and a vacuum region2 .
∗Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden
† Physics and Applied Mathematics Unit, Indian Statistical Institute, Calcutta–700 035, India
‡ Rajbhavan, Calcutta-700 062

APEIRON Vol.7, Nr.1-2, January-April 2000 Page 53

 With the purpose of tackling the problems just mentioned, as well as that of widening
the areas of application, several new approaches have been elaborated3−9 part of which
propose modified forms of Maxwell’s equations in vacuo.Among these the present review
describes two approaches the detailed deductions of which are given elsewhere5−9 . One is
based on the hypothesis of a nonzero electric field divergence in vacuo5−7 , and the other
on the assumption of a small nonzero electrical conductivity in vacuo8,9 .

2. Basis of Present Approaches

2.1 Nonzero Electric Field Divergence in Vacuo
Here Maxwell’s equations have been modified on the basis of two hypotheses:

1. The electric field divergence can differ from zero in vacuo.

2. The field equations should remain Lorentz invariant.

On this basis the extended form of Maxwell’s equations can be written as

~ ic) = −µ0 J~
22 (A, iφ/c) = −µ0 (~j, icρ̄) = −µ0 ρ̄(C, (1)

Here, ρ̄ denotes charge density and ~j is the corresponding “space charge current density”
in vacuo where C ~ 2 = c2 . This extended form has a connection with the Dirac theory of
10.11
the electron .It can be compared to the theories by Dirac and by de Broglie, Vigier and
Evans. In the Dirac theory with the relativistic wave function ψ the four- current has the
form
J~ = ec(ψ̄αi ψ, iψ̄ψ) (2)
with a given charge e of the electron. In the theory by de Broglie and Vigier12 and by Evans
and Vigier3 on the individual photon with a given rest mass m0 , the four-current becomes
instead
2πm0 c 2
J~ = ( ~ iφ/c)
)(1/µ0 )(A, (3)
h
For steady electromagnetic equlibria the present form(1) yields an expression for the in-
tegrated charge of a particle-like state, and for axisymmetric wave packets it results in an
expression for the photon rest mass.

2.2 Nonzero Electric Conductivity in Vacuo

Maxwell’s equations in vacuo have been modified by assigning a small but nonzero con-
ductivity coefficient (σ 6= 0). This gives rise to a displacement current as already observed
by Bartlet et al.13 . If we assign a nonzero conductivity coefficient to the Maxwell vac-
uum instead of space-charge, then the photon looses its energy when it propagates through
such a vacuum. But to make this framework fully relativistic, it is needed to introduce a
space-charge in vacuum. From the modified Maxwell equations the following situations
arise:

1. Plane waves are progressively damped with the factor exp (−kz), where k = ωβ.
1
2. The phase velocity of propagation of the wave is α and varies with the frequency.

Page 54 APEIRON Vol.7, Nr.1-2, January-April 2000

Here, " #
1/2
2 χe χm σ 2
α = 1+( ) +1
2c2 χe ω

and " #
1/2
2 χe χm σ 2
β = 1+( ) −1 .
2c2 χe ω

where ω is the frequency.

3. New Features
The present approaches give rise to new phenomena represented by steady equilibria and
dynamic states of wave propagation.

3.1 Effects due to Nonzero Electric Field Divergence

The current density in equation(1) leads to steady electromagnetic equilibria in vacuo, be-
ing determined by
~ = −C(∇
c2 curl2 A ~ 2 )φ = C ~ ρ̄ (4)
0
The resulting axisymmetric states consist of “particle-shaped” geometry being bounded
both in the axial and radial directions, and of “string-shaped” geometry being uniform in
the axial direction.
The particle-shaped solutions yield states both with nonzero and zero net charge and
magnetic moment. They may contribute to the understanding of such truly elementary par-
ticles as the leptons. The string-shaped equilibria reproduce several features of the earlier
proposed string model of the hadron color field.
The basic equations also predict nontranssverse waves in vacuo as determined by the
equation
2
∂2 ~ ∂ )(div E)
~ 2 )E + (c2 ∇ + C ~ =0
( − c2 ∇ (5)
∂t ∂t
for the electric field. There are three limiting cases :

1. When div E~ = 0 and curlE~ 6= 0, the result is a conventional transverse electromag-

netic wave, henceforth denoted as an “EM wave”.

2. When div E ~ 6= 0 and curlE ~ = 0, a purely longitudinal electric space-charge wave

arises, here denoted as an “S-wave”.

3. When both div E~ 6= 0 and curlE ~ 6= 0, a hybrid nontransverse electromagnetic

space-charge wave appears, heree denoted as an “EMS wave”.

3.2 Effects due to Nonzero Electric Conductivity

If we try to formulate the extended Einstein-Broglie-Proca (EBP) theory i.e. Maxwell’s
vacuum with σ 6= 0 in a fully relativistic manner as well as to make the theory gauge
invariant, it is necessary to introduce the concept of a space-charge in vacuo as

j = (~j, j0 ) (6)

APEIRON Vol.7, Nr.1-2, January-April 2000 Page 55

where j0 6= 0, j0 = icρ̄. Then we have both
~ 6= 0; and curlE
div E ~ 6= 0 (7)

This is nothing but the “EMS” wave of the first approach.

4. Plane Waves
Due to their relative simplicity, plane waves provide a convenient demonstration of the new
dynamic states which originate from the present approaches.

4.1 Waves due to a Nonzero Electric Field Divergence

The waves which arise in the case of a nonzero electric field divergence are for any field
component assumed to have the form exp[i(−ωt + ~k.~r)] where ω and ~k = (kx , ky , kz ) are
the frequency and wave number, with ~r = (x, y, z). When ~k × E ~ = 0 the magnetic field
~ ×E
vanishes, C ~ = 0, and ~k × C
~ = 0. Then all the field vectors ~k, E
~ and C
~ become parallel
and the dispersion relation is
ω = ±kc (8)
These are the characteristic features of the S wave of the previous section. When ~kxE
~ 6= 0
~ ~ ~ ~ ˙
there is a magnetic field. Then we also have k × C 6= 0, and E C = 0. The dispersion
relation becomes
~˙
ω = ~k C(9)
which characterizes the EMS wave. For this wave the conventional Poynting theorem ap-
plies, but not for the S wave. Here it should be noticed that many authors2,3 use the name
“longitudinal waves” for all modes having at least one field component in the direction of
propagation. This would then apply as a common name to both the S wave and the EMS
wave. An incident conventional EM wave, which propagates through a dissipative medium
and becomes subject to total reflection at a plane vacuum interface, leads to a problem
which cannot be solved by means of conventional theory2 . A solution can, however, be
provided through EMS waves.

4.2 Waves due to a Nonzero Electric Conductivity

In EBP theory the Maxwell equation can be written as

∂E
22 E = k02 E + σµ0 χm (10)
∂t
instead of 22 E = k02 E for a Maxwell vacuum. On laboratory scale we can neglect the
second term of the right hand side and get back the conventional equations. In EBP theory
the real physical (spin 1) pilot waves are considered to be associated with the photons that
follow the average line in their motion.

5. Features of Present Axisymmetric Photon Model

A photon model can be based on the axisymmetric solutions of equation(5) as follows.

1. The model can be pictured as having a “bound” (“self-confined”) part of radiation

which is associated with a rest mass m0 , and which is superimposed on a remaining

Page 56 APEIRON Vol.7, Nr.1-2, January-April 2000

 “free” part of radiation represented by the mass difference m − m0 . In the laboratory
frame the bound radiation can be regarded to circulate around the axis of symmetry..
In this way the model unifies the wave and particle concepts of an individual photon.

2. The limit of zero rest mass leads to a divergent EM mode which is physically unac-
ceptable. The rest mass can be allowed to be very small but nonzero. When it is less
than 10−9 of the electron mass, there should not be any detectable departure from
the zero rest mass case in a Michelson-Morley experiment.

3. The total electric charge is zero, and it is not necessary to rely on the idea that the
photon is its own antiparticle.

4. The intrinsic magnetic field of the present wave packet model is reconcilable but not
identical with the photon model by Evans and Vigier3,14 .

5. The phase and group velocities are equal and constant, thereby being slightly smaller
than c which can be considered as an asymptotic velocity limit at infinite photon
energy. There is no dispersion in wave number space. The total mass and the rest
mass are both proportional to the frequency ν. All parts of the field energy of the
wave packet are thus included i the same way in the total energy hν.

6. The present wave packet model is supported by so far performed experiments. In

studies on interference phenomena of individual photons15 , dot-shaped marks are
observed at a screen. These marks seem to be consistent with the limited radial
extension of an impinging photon. This result is also supported by microwave trans-
mission experiments of in presence of an aperture16 .

6. Possible Astrophysical Implications

The isotropy and homogeneity of our universe are the two basic components of the cosmo-
logical principle.

1. The hypothesis of nonzero photon rest mass leads to the violation of isotropy of the
light properties.

2. Several attempts have been made to relate the nonzero rest mass of the photon with
the vacuum dissipation processes which leads to a new interpretation of the redshift
of spectral lines at cosmological scale.

3. The recent astrophysical events at high redshift can be used to place severe limits on
the variation of the speed of light17 , the photon mass and the energy scale of quantum
gravity.

References
1. J.J.Thomson (1936): The Nature of Light, Nature, February 8, p.232.

2. R.Hütt(1987): Die Ausbreltung einer ebenen inhomogenen Vektorwelle’, Optik 78,

12.

3. M.Evans and J.P.Vigier (1994): The Enigmatic Photon 1,2, Kluwer Academic Pub-
lishers, Dordrecht-Boston-London.

APEIRON Vol.7, Nr.1-2, January-April 2000 Page 57

 View publication stats
4. T.Barrett and D.M.Grimes, editors(1995) :Advanced Electromagnetics, World Sci-
entific Publishers, Singapore.

5. B.Lehnert(1986): An Extended Formulation of Maxwell’s Equations,Spec. Sci.Tech

9, 177.

6. B.Lehnert and S.Roy(1998): Extended Electromagnetic Theory, World Scientific

Publishers, Singapore.

7. B.Lehnert(1999):A Photon Model of an Extended Electromagnetic Theory, Contem-

porary Fundamental Physics (V.V.Dvoeglazov, Editor). Nova Science Publishers.

8. G.Kar, M.Sinha and S.Roy(1993):Maxwell’s Equations, Nonzero Photon Mass and

Conformal Metric Fluctuation,32, 593.

9. S.Roy, G.Kar and M.Roy(1996):Propagation of Electromagnetic Waves in Random

Medium and Nonzero Rest Mass of the Photon,35, 579.

10. R.B.Leighton (1959): Principles of Modern Physics, McGraw-Hill Book Comp,

New York-Toronto-London, Ch.20.

11. C.W.Sherwin(1960):Introduction to Quantum Mechanics, Holt, Rinehart and Win-

ston, New York, Ch.11.

12. L. de Broglie and J.P.Vigier (1972): Photon Mass and New Experimental Results on
Longitudinal Displacements of Laser Beams near Total Reflection , 28, 1001.

13. D.F.Bartlet and T.R.Corle(1985):Physical Rev.Lett.55,99.

14. M.W.Evans(1992): The Elementary State of magnetic Field of the Photon, Physica
B 182, 227.

15. Y.Tsuchiya et al. (1985): Advances in Electronics and Electron Physics, 64 A, p. 21

, Academic Press Inc.(London).

16. G.Hunter and R.L.P. Wadlinger(1989):Photons and Neutrinos as Electromagnetic

Solitons,Physics Essays 2, 154.

17. E.B.Scaefer(1998): Severe Limits on Variations of the Speed of light with Frequency,
Yale University Preprint and references there in.

Page 58 APEIRON Vol.7, Nr.1-2, January-April 2000