Plane wave in a moving medium and resolution of the Abraham-Minkowski debate by the special principle of relativity

Wang, Changbiao

doi:10.48550/arxiv.1106.1163

Cited by 3 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 18 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…From the above relativity analysis of Einstein-box thought experiment, we can see that the correct light momentum and energy must constitute a Lorentz four-vector when the global momentum and energy conservation laws are taken to be the fundamental postulates [13], which actually is a criterion of identifying the correctness of light momentum definitions. This conclusion is completely in agreement with that obtained from a plane wave in a moving uniform medium [15], as stated in Sec. I.…”

Section: Abraham's Photon Momentum Breaking the Global Momentum And E...supporting

confidence: 92%

“…* changbiao wang@yahoo.com As physical laws, according to the principle of relativity, the above two basic properties are valid in any inertial frames. From this we can conclude that the correct light momentum and energy must constitute a Lorentz covariant four-vector, and the Minkowskis momentum is the unique correct light momentum [15].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 70%

“…The plane-wave model is the simplest physical model for studying light momentum, and it can be strictly treated mathematically in the Maxwell-equation frame; however, the physical results obtained are fundamental. For example, the Lorentz transformation of photon density in the isotropic-fluid model treated by sophisticated field theory is exactly the same as that in the plane-wave model [15].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 87%

“…It is interesting to point out that, it is the Fermat's principle and the principle of relativity that require the light momentum and energy to constitute a Lorentz four-vector for a plane wave in a moving uniform medium where there is no momentum transfer taking place [15], while it is the global momentum and energy conservation laws that require the light momentum and energy to constitute a Lorentz four-vector in the Einstein-box thought experiment where there is a momentum transfer taking place when the photon goes into a medium box.…”

Section: Abraham's Photon Momentum Breaking the Global Momentum And E...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The momentum of light in a medium is a fundamental question and has kept attracting extensive interest [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15]. There are different ways to define the light momentum, which all have their own merits [1,4,10].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 4 more Smart Citations

Can the Abraham Light Momentum and Energy in a Medium Constitute a Lorentz Four-Vector?

Wang¹

2013

JMP

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

By analyzing the Einstein-box thought experiment with the principle of relativity, it is shown that Abraham’s light momentum and energy in a medium cannot constitute a Lorentz four-vector, and they consequentially break global momentum and energy conservation laws. In contrast, Minkowski’s momentum and energy always constitute a Lorentz four-vector no matter whether in a medium or in vacuum, and the Minkowski’s momentum is the unique correct light momentum. A momentum-associated photon mass in a medium is exposed, which explains why only the Abraham’s momentum is derived in the traditional “center-of-mass-energy” approach. The EM boundary-condition matching approach, combined with Einstein light-quantum hypothesis, is proposed to analyze this thought experiment, and it is found for the first time that only from Maxwell equations without resort to the relativity, the correctness of light momentum definitions cannot be identified. Optical pulling effect is studied as well.

show abstract

Section: Abraham's Photon Momentum Breaking the Global Momentum And E...supporting

confidence: 92%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 70%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 87%

Section: Abraham's Photon Momentum Breaking the Global Momentum And E...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Can the Abraham Light Momentum and Energy in a Medium Constitute a Lorentz Four-Vector?

Wang¹

2013

JMP

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Fantastic quasi-photon and the symmetries of Maxwell electromagnetic theory, momentum-energy conservation law, and Fermat's principle

Wang¹

2018

Optik

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In this paper, I introduce two new concepts (Minkowski quasi-photon and invariance of physical definitions) to elucidate the theory developed in my previous work [Can. J. Phys. 93, 1510], and to clarify the criticisms by Partanen and coworkers [Phys. Rev. A 95, 063850 (2017)]. Minkowski quasi-photon is the carrier of the momentum and energy of light in a medium under the sense of macroscopic averages of light-matter microscopic interactions. I firmly argue that required by the principle of relativity, the definitions of all physical quantities are invariant. I shed a new light on the significance of the symmetry of physical laws for resolution of the Abraham-Minkowski debate on the momentum of light in a medium. I illustrate by relativistic analysis why the momentums and energies of the electromagnetic subsystem and the material subsystem form Lorentz four-vectors separately for a closed system of light-matter interactions, and why the momentum and energy of a non-radiation field are owned by the material subsystem, and they are not measurable experimentally. Finally, I also provide an elegant proof for the invariance of physical definitions, and a clear definition of the Lorentz covariance for general physical quantities and tensors.

show abstract

Photon mass drag and the momentum of light in a medium

et al. 2017

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Conventional theories of electromagnetic waves in a medium assume that the energy propagating with the light pulse in the medium is entirely carried by the field. Thus, the possibility that the optical force field of the light pulse would drive forward an atomic mass density wave (MDW) and the related kinetic and elastic energies is neglected. In this work, we present foundations of a covariant theory of light propagation in a medium by considering a light wave simultaneously with the dynamics of the medium atoms driven by optoelastic forces between the induced dipoles and the electromagnetic field. We show that a light pulse having a total electromagnetic energy ω propagating in a nondispersive medium transfers a mass equal to δm = (n 2 −1) ω/c 2 , where n is the refractive index. MDW, which carries this mass, consists of atoms, which are more densely spaced inside the light pulse as a result of the field-dipole interaction. We also prove that the transfer of mass with the light pulse, the photon mass drag effect, gives an essential contribution to the total momentum of the light pulse, which becomes equal to the Minkowski momentum pM = n ω/c. The field's share of the momentum is the Abraham momentum pA = ω/(nc), while the difference pM − pA is carried by MDW. Due to the coupling of the field and matter, only the total momentum of the light pulse and the transferred mass δm can be directly measured. Thus, our theory gives an unambiguous physical meaning to the Abraham and Minkowski momenta. We also show that to solve the centenary Abraham-Minkowski controversy of the momentum of light in a nondispersive medium in a way that is consistent with Newton's first law, one must account for the mass transfer effect. We derive the photon mass drag effect using two independent but complementary covariant models. In the mass-polariton (MP) quasiparticle approach, we consider the light pulse as a coupled state between the photon and matter, isolated from the rest of the medium. The momentum and the transferred mass of MP follow unambiguously from the Lorentz invariance and the fundamental conservation laws of nature. To enable the calculation of the mass and momentum distribution of a light pulse, we have also generalized the electrodynamics of continuous media to account for the space-and time-dependent optoelastic dynamics of the medium driven by the field-dipole forces. In this optoelastic continuum dynamics (OCD) approach, we obtain with an appropriate space-time discretization a numerically accurate solution of the Newtonian continuum dynamics of the medium when the light pulse is propagating in it. The OCD simulations of a Gaussian light pulse propagating in a diamond crystal give the same momentum pM and the transferred mass δm for the light pulse as the MP quasiparticle approach. Our simulations also show that, after photon transmission, some nonequilibrium of the mass distribution is left in the medium. Since the elastic forces are included in our simulations on equal footing with the optical forces, our simulatio...

show abstract

Plane wave in a moving medium and resolution of the Abraham-Minkowski debate by the special principle of relativity

Cited by 3 publications

References 18 publications

Can the Abraham Light Momentum and Energy in a Medium Constitute a Lorentz Four-Vector?

Can the Abraham Light Momentum and Energy in a Medium Constitute a Lorentz Four-Vector?

Fantastic quasi-photon and the symmetries of Maxwell electromagnetic theory, momentum-energy conservation law, and Fermat's principle

Photon mass drag and the momentum of light in a medium

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About