Jackson Problems 6.9 and 6.

10
For a homogeneous (i.e. uniform), isotropic, linear medium,

r B = 0; r E + @t B = 0
r D = ; r H @t D = J

where and J are the unbound charge and current densities, not associated with
P or M . In general, when only bound dipoles are contained in the medium,
1
D = "0 E + P ; H= B M
0

so that
total = r P ; Jtotal = J + r M + @t P
But for the case at hand
1
D = "E ; H= B

with " and constant.

So, following Minkowski, de…ne the energy density and Poynting vectors as
1
U= "E 2 + H 2 ; S=E H
2
and proceed to …nd, for constant " and ,

@t U = ("E @t E + H @t H)
r S = r (E H) = H (r E) E (r H)
@t U + r S = E ("@t E r H) + H ( @t H + r E)

So
@t U + r S = E J (1)
The last term is the rate at which work is done, locally, on the unbound charge.
Thus the interpretation is as conservation of total energy.
OTOH, if there were time dependence in " and , this result would be
modi…ed as follows.
1
U= (E D + B H) ; S=E H
2

1
@t U = D @t E + E @t D + H @t B + B @t H
2
r S = r (E H) = H (r E) E (r H)
@t U + r S = E (@t D r H) + H (@t B + r E)
1 1
+ (D @t E E @t D) + (B @t H H @t B)
2 2

1
so then
1 2 1 2
@t U + r S = E J E @t " H @t (2)
2 2
if we keep the same de…nitions for U and for S. Compare this to the energy
of a simple harmonic oscillator whose force “constant” changes with time:

d2 r d
1 dr dr 1 2
m = k (t) r ; m + kr
dt2 dt
2 dt dt 2
dr d2 r 1 2 dk
= m 2 + k (t) r + r
dt dt 2 dt
1 dr dr 1 2 dW 1 dk
W = m + kr ; = r2
2 dt dt 2 dt 2 dt
For solutions of the equation of motion, then, the energy W changes with time
as
1 dr dr 1 2 dW 1 dk
W = m + kr ; = r2
2 dt dt 2 dt 2 dt
Moving right along ... we follow Minkowski to de…ne momentum densities
and stress tensors as

R = D B=" S
1
Tjk = Tkj = Dj Ek + Hj Bk jk (D E + H B)
2
Now, the force on the unbound charges and currents in a volume V of the
medium is given by
Z
d
F Pm echanical = ( E + J B) d3 r
dt V

This can be reduced to the rate of change of electromagnetic momentum in the

volume V , and a surface term representing the net stress on the volume, as
follows.

E+J B = E r D+J B
@t (D B) = @t D B+D @t B
= (r H J) B D (r E)

E+J B + @t (D B) = Er D D (r E) + (r H) B
= Er D D (r E) + H r B B (r H)

where the r B = 0 term is added without any cost. So, taking the jth

2
component,

[E r D D (r E) + H r B B (r H)]j
= E j r D + Hj r B "jkl (Dk (r E)l + Bk (r H)l )
= Ej r D + Hj r B "jkl "lmn (Dk @m En + Bk @m Hn )
= Ej @m Dm + Hj @m Bm ( jm kn jn km ) (Dk @m En + B k @ m Hn )
= Ej @m Dm + Hj @m Bm (Dn @j En + Bn @j Hn ) + (Dm @m Ej + Bm @m Hj )
1 1 1
= @m (Dm Ej + Bm Hj ) @j (D E + B H) + (E E) @j " + (H H) @j
2 2 2
1 1 1
= @ m D m E j + B m Hj jm (D E + B H) + (E E) @j " + (H H) @j
2 2 2
! R !
That is to say, de…ning P EM = V R d3 r, we arrive at
Z
d! d! ! ! ! ! ! 1 !! ! ! ! !
P m echanical + P EM = r D E+B H I D E+B H d3 r
dt dt 2
Z h V
1 ! ! ! ! ! ! i
+ E E r" + H H r d3 r
2 V
Z
! ! ! ! 1 ! ! ! !
= E nb D+ H n b B D E+B H nb d2 s
S 2
Z h
1 ! ! ! ! ! ! i
+ E E r" + H H r d3 r
2 V

Following Helmholtz, and Minkowski (!?!?), we interpret the last two terms as
additional mechanical forces on the medium itself. Thus we may write
Z !!
d! d!
P m echanical total + P EM = T n b d2 s (3)
dt dt S
!! ! ! ! ! 1 !! ! ! ! !
T = D E+B H I D E+B H that is to say
2
1 ! ! ! !
Tjk = Dj Ek + Bj Hk jk D E + B H (4)
2
where
Z
d! 1h ! ! ! ! ! ! i 3
P m echanical total = E+J B E E r" + H H r d r
dt 2
ZV
d! ! ! 3
P EM = @t D B d r (5)
dt V

The interpretation of T and R is not without controversy.