Chapter 14 MAXWELL’S EQUATIONS

• Introduction I Z −→
− −
→ → B − →
• Electrodynamics before Maxwell 
E · l = −   · S
  
 
• Maxwell’s displacement current 

Ampère’s law gives the circulation of the magnetic

• Maxwell’s equations: General field:
I Z
• Maxwell’s equations in vacuum → −
− → → −
− →
 B · dl = 0  j · S
 
• The mathematics of waves  

Charge conservation is an important law of nature

• Summary that must be obeyed by the laws of electrodynamics.
Charge conservation implies that the net current flow-
ing out of a closed surface must equal the rate of loss
INTRODUCTION of charge from the enclosed volume.
I I
→ −
− → 
The contributions of James Clerk Maxwell to science j · S +  = 0
  
are remarkable, they are of comparable importance   
to those of Newton. Maxwell summarized the laws
Maxwell realized that the above four equations for elec-
of electricity and magnetism, developed by Coulomb,
trodynamics violate charge conservation. He showed
Faraday, and Ampère, and expressed them in the fol-
that an additional term, called the displacement cur-
lowing concise mathematical form in terms of flux and
rent, that depends on the rate of change of electric
circulation, and most importantly added a missing term
field, missing from Ampère’s Law; is needed to satisfy
that is of crucial importance. The four Maxwell Equa-
charge conservation. This lecture will first discuss the
tions summarize the fundamental laws that underlie
need for the introduction of a new displacement cur-
all of electricity and magnetism.
rent term to satisfy charge conservation. This will be
followed by a summary of the fundamental Maxwell
Equations.
ELECTRODYNAMICS BEFORE
MAXWELL
MAXWELL’S DISPLACEMENT
Flux: Gauss’s Law: CURRENT
Coulomb’s Law implies that the electric flux out of
a closed surface is: Maxwell showed that Ampère’s law could be gener-
alized and made to satisfy charge conservation, by in-
cluding an additional term to the current density called
I Z −
→
− −
→ → 1 the displacement current density, j , where:
Φ = E · S = 
 0  →
−
   −→ E
j ≡ 0

The Biot Savart Law implies that the magnetic flux
out of a closed surface is: Addition of this displacement current density to the
→
−
I real current density j gives the Maxwell-Ampère law:
→ −
− →
Φ = B · S = 0

  I Z Z →
−
− −
→ → − −
→ → E − →
B · l = 0   j · S + 0 0   · S
Although these two flux equations were derived only    
 
for statics, they also are obeyed for electrodynamics.  
Circulation: R−→ − →
Faraday’s Law implies that the circulation of the The second integral equals 0 j · S that is the
electric field is coupled to the rate of change of mag- Maxwell-Ampère includes the sum of the the real cur-
netic flux. rent density and the displacement current.
107
Figure 1 Evaluation of Ampère’s Law when the closed
loop C→ 0
Figure 2 Two surfaces S1 and S2 bounded by the same
curve C. The current passes through the surface S1
A formal proof for the need of the displacement but not S2 . However, there is a changing electric flux
current term is as follows. Consider that the closed through S2 
loop C, in figure 1, shrinks to zero, that is  → 0 then
the surface integral becomes a closed surface. That is: no magnetic field around C. However, there remains a
measurable magnetic field around the wire carrying the
I I I →
− current I. Clearly something is wrong with Ampère’s
− −
→ → − −
→ → E − →
B · l = 0 = 0 j · S + 0 0 · S Law.
=0  Maxwell’s displacement current corrects this flaw
Gauss’ law gives: in Ampère’s Law, and satisfies charge conservation.
I Z Inclusion of the displacement current does not change
− −
→ → 1 the integral of current though surface S1 since the
E · S = 
 0  displacement current is zero for this surface because
   R − −
→ →
0 1 E · S = 0 whereas the real current is . How-
therefore, the time derivative of Gauss’s law; ever, for 2 , the real current density is zero but the
I →
− Z displacement current is non-zero since the electric field
E − → 1  between the capacitor plates in increasing. It is shown
· S = 
  0   below that the net current through both 1 and 2 are
  
the same if both the real and displacement currents are
Inserting this into the above line integral for a closed summed.
loop C gives Integrating the displacement current over the sur-
I I face S2 gives:
→ −
− → 
j · S +  = 0 Z Z →
−
   −
→ − → E − →
   j · S = 0 · S
2 2 
that is, the charge conservation relation is obtained. Consider Gauss’ law for the closed surface defined by
Inclusion of the displacement current term leads to the −1 + 2 
second integral which is essential to this proof. I Z
→ −
− → 1
E · S = 
Charging capacitor −1 +2 0 


An understanding of Maxwell’s displacement current where −1 is used to reflect the fact that the right-
density can be obtained by considering the case of a hand rule connecting C and 1 was taken such that 1
capacitor charging with current I as illustrated in fig- is taken pointing into the volume. The time derivative
ure 2. The current in the wire produces a measurable of this gives;
magnetic field circling around the wire carrying the I →
− Z
E − → 1 
current I. · S = 
−1 +2   0  
For surface S1 , bounded by the closed loop C, there 
is a real current I passing inwards through this surface The left-hand integral has a zero contribution for sur-
which is related to the non-zero circulation of B around face 1  Thus the net displacement current is given
the closed loop C given by Ampère’s law. However, as by:
shown in figure 2, surface S2  which passes between the Z Z Z →
− Z
capacitor plates, has no real current flowing through −→ −
→− → E −→ 
0S+ j ·S = 0 ·S = 
its surface, and thus Ampère’s law implies that there is −1 2 2   


108
Inserting this in the charge conservation relation
I I
→ −
− → 
j · S +  = 0
  
  

and using the fact that the real current density is non-
zero only for 1  and displacement current is non-zero
only for 2 gives
Z Z
→ −
− → −
→ − →
j · S + j · S = 0
−1 2
or Z Z Figure 3 Parallel-plate capacitor having circular plates
− −
→ → −
→ − →
j · S = j · S =  of radius  Current of  charges the plates. Calculate
1 2
the magnetic field around the concentric circular path of
where the direction of the first integral has been re- radius .
versed. That is, the total displacement current flow-
ing through 2 equals the total real current flowing
through 1 

Thus the Maxwell-Ampère’s law can be written: 2 = 0 0 + 0 0 2

I Z Z →
− Using Gauss’s Law at the surface of the capacitor plates
− −
→ → − −
→ → E − → gives that
B · l = 0 j · S + 0 0 · S
 1 2   
= =
where the first integral equals 0  for surface S1 and  0 2
zero for surface S2 , while the second integral equals 0  These give that
for surface S2 and is zero for surface S1  That is, the
circulation of B around the loop C is the same whether 0  
 =
surface 1 or surface 2 are used. Thus Maxwell’s cor- 22 
rected version of Ampères Law satisfies charge conser- 0 
= 
vation, that is, the circulation of magnetic field is inde- 22
pendent on whether a current is flowing or the electric This result is the same as for the magnetic field inside a
flux is changing, that is whether surface S1 or surface cylindrical conductor of radius  having a uniform cur-
S2 are used for the closed loop C. rent density  
2  However, this result was obtained by
Addition of the displacement current implies that calculating the induced magnetic field due to a chang-
the circulation of the B field around a closed loop de- ing flux of electric field.
pends on both the current and the rate of change of
electric flux through the loop. This is analogous to
Faraday’s Law which relates the circulation of the E
field around a closed loop to the rate of change of the MAXWELL’S EQUATIONS: GENERAL
magnetic flux through the loop. The enormous signif-
icance of the displacement current will become more After much hard work we finally have arrived at the
apparent after we summarize Maxwell’s Equations. basic laws of electromagnetism as first developed by
Maxwell’s displacement current states that a chang- Maxwell. These are derived from the experimental
ing electric flux through a closed curve induces a circu- laws of Coulomb, Faraday and Ampère plus superpo-
lation of the magnetic field around that circuit. This sition. Maxwell expressed these laws in terms of the
is a direct analogy to Faraday’s Law where a changing flux and circulation of the electric and magnetic vector
magnetic flux though a circuit induces a circulation fields, as well as adding the missing term, the displace-
of the electric field around the circuit. This analogy ment current. The most general form of the Maxwell’s
can be illustrated by considering the induced magnetic Equations is given below.
field between the plates of a parallel-plate capacitor
with circular plates, see figure 3. Consider a concen- Maxwell Equations, General form.
tric circular path of radius  in the plane of the ra-
dius  circular capacitor plates. By symmetry using Flux
Maxwell-Ampère’s law, plus the fact that the current Gauss’s Law for electric field:
→
−
density j between the plates is zero, gives

I Z Z →
− I Z
− −
→ → − −
→ → E − → − −
→ → 1
B · l = 0 j · S + 0 0 · S Φ = E · S = 
  0 
   

109
 1 −
→ → → −
− →
= (Enclosed charge) F = ( E + −
v × B)
0
Gauss’s law for magnetism Maxwell used his four equations to predict that
electromagnetic waves can occur and these will travel
at a velocity in vacuum of  = √10   He was aston-
I 0
− −
→ → ished to discover that this equalled the measured ve-
Φ = B · S = 0

 
locity of light convincing him that light was an electro-
magnetic wave. It was not until after Maxwell’s death
Circulation: that Hertz demonstrated that electromagnetic waves
Faraday’s Law are created via oscillating electric fields.

I Z −→
− −
→ → B − →
 E · l = −  

· S MAXWELL’S EQUATIONS IN
 
 

VACUUM
Ampère-Maxwell law: It helps to consider the special case of Maxwell’s Equa-
tions in vacuum, that is, where current and charge den-
→
−
I Z →
− sities are zero, j =  = 0 Then Maxwell’s equations
− −
→ → −
→ E − → in vacuum simplify to the following.
 B · dl = 0  ( j + 0 ) · S
   Maxwell Equations for Vacuum
 
Flux
= 0 (Net real and displacement currents flowing
through the loop)
I
Remember that the total flux of the electric field − −
→ →
E · S = 0
out of a closed surface is independent of the size or 
 
shape of the Gaussian surface because the electric field
for a point charge has a 12 dependence. Gauss’s law
for the electric field gives the strength of the enclosed
I
charge. The total flux for the magnetic field also is in- − −
→ →
dependent of the size and shape of the surface because B · S = 0

 
it also has a 12 dependence. However, the net mag-
netic flux is always zero because the magnetic field Circulation
for an current element is tangential not radial. The
fact that the net flux is zero is equivalent to the state-
ment that magnetic monopoles do not exist. That is,
I Z −→
north and south poles only occur in pairs in contrast − −
→ → B − →
to charge which comes in two flavors, positive or neg-  E · l = −   · S
  
ative.  

The circulation of the electric field is a statement
of Faraday’s law of induction. Also it includes the
fact that for statics, the circulation is zero implying I Z →
−
− −
→ → E − →
that the electric field from a point charge is radial, not  B · dl = 0 0  · S
  
tangential. A consequence for statics is that the line  
R → −
− →
integral → E · l is path independent allowing the
use of the concept of electric potential. Note the symmetry between these pairs of equa-
tions both for the flux and circulation. The right-hand
The circulation of the magnetic field is a statement
side of the last equation comes from Maxwell’s dis-
of the Ampère-Maxwell law. Remember to use a right-
placement current. The only non-symmetric aspects
handed definition relating the line integral and the di-
rection of the flux through the loop when using either are the negative sign in Faraday’s law, and the prod-
uct of the constants, 0 0  This product equals the
of the circulation relations.
square of the velocity of light in vacuum,  as will be
The complete description of electromagnetism re-
shown next lecture. That is:
quires the four Maxwell equations plus the Lorentz
force relation that defines the electric and magnetic 1
fields. That is: 0 0 =
2
110
 where the phase  is fixed with respect to the waveform
shape. It can correspond to motion in either direction.
General wave motion can be described by solutions
of a wave equation. The wave equation can be writ-
ten in terms of the spatial and temporal derivatives
of the wave function Ψ() Consider the first partial
derivatives of Ψ() =  ( ∓ ) =  ()
Ψ Ψ  Ψ
Figure 4 Travelling wave, moving at velocity v in the  = =
   
direction, at times t=0 and t= −
 
0

and
Ψ Ψ  Ψ
= = ∓
Thus the system of units used for the velocity of light is    
the only parameter in Maxwell’s equations. Remem- Factoring out Ψ
for the first derivatives gives

ber, that the velocity of light in vacuum is taken to
be a fundamental constant. That is, the equations Ψ Ψ
are independent of the system of units used in defin- = ∓
 
ing 0 and 0 . The symmetry of the Maxwell equa-
tions and the direct inclusion of the velocity of light The sign in this equation is independent of the shape
is related to the direct connection of the electric and of the waveform but depends on the sign of the wave
magnetic fields predicted by Einstein’s Theory of Rel- velocity making it not a generally useful formula.
ativity. Next lecture will use Maxwell’s equations in Consider the second derivatives
vacuum to demonstrate that they lead to the predic- 2Ψ 2 Ψ  2 Ψ
tion of electromagnetic radiation. The discussion of = 2 =
2
  2
electromagnetic radiation requires a knowledge of wave
motion which will be reviewed next. and
2Ψ 2 Ψ  2 Ψ
2
= 2 = + 2 2
   
2 Ψ
MATHEMATICS OF WAVES Factoring out 2
gives

Consider a travelling wave in one dimension. If the 2Ψ 1 2Ψ

wave is moving, then the wave function Ψ ( ) de-
scribing the shape of the wave, is a function of both
 and . The instantaneous amplitude of the wave
Ψ ( ) could correspond to the transverse displace-
ment of a wave on a string, the longitudinal amplitude
of a wave on a spring, the pressure of a longitudinal
sound wave, the electric or magnetic fields in an elec-
tromagnetic wave, a matter wave, etc. If the wave train
maintains its shape as it moves, then one can describe
the wave train by the function  () where the coordi-
nate  is measured relative to the shape of the wave,
that is, it is like a phase. Consider that  ( = 0)
corresponds to the peak of the travelling pulse shown
in figure 4. If the wave travels at velocity v in the 
direction, then the peak is at  = 0 for  = 0 and is at
 =  at time t. That is: the fixed point on the wave
profile  () moves in the following way
 =  −  moving in +x direction
2
= 2 2
  
This wave equation in one dimension is independent
of both the shape of the waveform and the sign of
the velocity. There are an infinite number of possible
shapes of waves travelling in one dimension, all of these
must satisfy this one-dimensional wave equation. The
converse is that any function that satisfies this one
dimensional wave equation must be a wave in this one
dimension.
One example of a solution of this one-dimensional
wave equations is the sinusoidal wave

Ψ() =  sin([ − ]) =  sin( − )

where  =   The wave number  = 2   where  is
the wavelength of the wave, and angular frequency  =
2. Note that this satisfies the above wave equation
where the wave velocity equals  =  =  
The Wave Equation in three dimensions is

 =  +  moving in -x direction 2Ψ 2Ψ 2Ψ 1 2Ψ

∇2 Ψ ≡ 2
+ 2
+ 2
= 2 2
    
That is, any arbitrary shaped wave form travelling in
either  direction can be written as: There are an infinite number of possible solutions Ψ to
this wave equation, any one of which corresponds to a
Ψ() =  ( ∓ ) =  () wave motion with velocity v.
111
 The Wave Equation is applicable to all forms of
wave motion, both transverse and longitudinal. That
is, it applies to waves on a string, siesmic waves, wa-
ter waves, sound waves, electromagnetic waves, mat-
ter waves, etc. In the subsequent discussion of electro-
magnetic waves, the Maxwell Equations will be used to
deduce a wave equation. The existence of a wave equa-
tion is equivalent to proving the existence of electro-
magnetic waves of any wave form, frequency or wave-
length travelling with the velocity given by the wave
equation.

SUMMARY
The Maxwell equations, which are the fundamental
laws of electromagnetism, have been obtained. They
play a crucial role in most branches of science and engi-
neering. The Maxwell Equations apply to all manifes-
tions of electromagnetism and they contain Einstein’s
Theory of Special Relativity. For example Maxwell’s
equations predict that the velocity of light is indepen-
dent of motion of the frame of reference. Maxwell did
not realize this important facet of his equations: it
took Einstein to discover this crucial fact which he
presented in his seminal 1905 paper entitled ”On the
electrodynamics of moving bodies”.
Reading assignment: Giancoli, Chapter 32,
Review the physics of waves, Giancoli, Chapter 15.

112