Retarded Potential The retarded magnetic vector potential A in open space is given by the integral

where r is the position vector of the observation point, r' is the position vector of the source point, R is the distance between the observation and source points, and V' is the volume of the current source. In terms of its magnitude, the retarded vector potential behaves just like the vector potential in magnetostatics: far away from the source, it decays as 1/R. The retarded vector potential, however, is time-dependent. At each point of space, it is a decayed (as 1/R) and delayed (or retarded) version of its current source. If there are multiple sources, it is a superposition of the appropriately delayed and decayed versions of these sources, as implied by the integration. In the case of a sinusoidal current excitation, at each point of space, the vector potential is a sinusoidal function of time whose magnitude is proportional to the current and inversely proportional to the distance from it. Its phase is equal to the retarded phase of the source. The retardation is equal to R/v, where v is the speed of light in the respective medium: In a uniform isotropic medium, the magnetic vector potential A has the same direction as its current. Thus, if the current is along the z-axis, so is A. For a very small volume of z-oriented sinusoidal current density, the volume integral reduces to .

where I is total current flowing in the z-direction, and L is the length of the volume. We refer to as current element. Observe the retarded potential due to a very small z-oriented current element whose waveform is a Gaussian pulse in time in Animation 1. The amplitude of the pulse decays as 1/R. Since the pulse wave propagates with finite velocity, away from the source, the potential is a delayed version of it. Observe the retarded potential due to the same current element whose waveform is a sinusoidal function of time in Animation 2. The x and y axes show the distance in meters. The wavelength in Animation 2 is = 30 m (f = 10 MHz).

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