Recall that a covariant 4-vector is obtained from a contravariant one by changing the sign of the zeroth component. The same goes for tensors: When you “lower an index” to make it covariant, you change the sign if that index is zero. Compute the tensor invariants

FμvFμv,GμvGμvandFμvGμv

in terms of E and B. Compare Prob. 12.47.

Short Answer

Expert verified

The tensor invariants are FμvFμv=2B2-E2c2GμvGμv=2E2c2-B2andFμvGμv=-4cE.B

Step by step solution

01

Expression for the Product of  and :

Write the expression for the product of FμvFμv

FμvFμv=F00F00-F01F01-F02F02-F03F03-F10F10-F20F20-F30F30+F11F11+F12F12+F13F13+F21F21+F22F22+F23F23+F31F31+F32F32+F33F33Here,F00=0,F01=Exc,F02=Eyc,F03=Ezc,F12=Bz,F31=ByandF23=Bx .......(1)

Write the expression for the product of GμvGμv

GμvGμv=G00G00-G01G01-G02G02-G03G03-G10G10-G20G20-G30G30+G11G11+G12G12+G13G13+G21G21+G22G22+G23G23+G31G31+G32G32+G33G33Here,G00=0,G01,G12=Bz,G31=By,G23=Bx,Exc,G02=EycandG03=Ezc ......(2)

02

Determine the Product of :

Substitute F00=0,F01=Exc,F02=Eyc,F03=Ezc,F12=Bz,F31=ByandF23=Bxin equation (1).

FμvFμv=0-Exc2--Eyc2-Ezc2-Exc2-Eyc2-Ezc2+0+Bz2+By2+Bx2+0+Bz2+By2+Bx2+0FμvFμv=-2Ex2c2-2Ey2c2-2Ez2c2+2Bx2+2By2+2Bz2Here,Bx+By+Bz=BandEx+Ex+Ex=E

So, the above equation becomes,

FμνFμν=-2Ex2c2-2Ey2c2-2Ez2c2+2Bx2+2By2+2Bz2FμνFμν=-2c2Ex2+Ey2+Ez2+2Bx2+By2+Bz2FμνFμν=-2E2c2+2B2FμνFμν=2B2E2c2

03

Determine the Product of :

Substitute G00=0,G01=Bx,G01=By,G01=Bz,G12=EZc,G31=EycandG31=Excin equation (2).

GμνGμν=0-Bx2-Bx2-Bx2-Bx2-Bx2-Bx2+0+-Ezc2+-Eyc+-Ezc+0+-Exc+-Eyc+-Exc+0GμνGμν=-2Bx2-2Bx2-2Bx2+Ez2c2+Ey2c2+Ez2c2+Ex2c2+Ez2c2+Ex2c2GμνGμν=-2Bx2+By2+Bz2+2c2Ex2+Ey2+Ez2

On further solving,

GμνGμν=-2B2+2c2E2GμνGμν=2E2c2-B2

04

Determine the Product of :

Write the expression for the product of FμνFμν

role="math" localid="1654678337382" FμνFμν=-2F01G01+F02G02+F03G03+2F12G12+F13G13+F23G23

Substitute, role="math" localid="1654679206876" F01=Exc,F02=Eyc,F03=Ezc,F12=Bz,F31=BzandF23=Bx

G01=Bx,G02=By,G03=BzG12=-Ezc,G31=-EzcandG23=-Ezcin the above expression.

FμνFμν=2ExcBx+EycBx+EzcBx+2BzEzc+ByEyc+BxExcFμνFμν=-2cExBx+EyBy+EzBz-2cExBx+EyBy+EzBzFμνFμν=-2cE.B-2cE.BFμνFμν=-4cE.B

Therefore, the tensor invariants areFμνFμν=2B2-E2c2GμνGμν=2E2c2-B2andFμνGμν=4cE.B.

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Most popular questions from this chapter

You may have noticed that the four-dimensional gradient operator /xμ functions like a covariant 4-vector—in fact, it is often writtenμ , for short. For instance, the continuity equation, μJμ=0, has the form of an invariant product of two vectors. The corresponding contravariant gradient would beμ/xμ . Prove thatμf is a (contravariant) 4-vector, ifϕ is a scalar function, by working out its transformation law, using the chain rule.

(a) Write out the matrix that describes a Galilean transformation (Eq. 12.12).

(b) Write out the matrix describing a Lorentz transformation along the yaxis.

(c) Find the matrix describing a Lorentz transformation with velocity v along the x axis followed by a Lorentz transformation with velocity valong they axis. Does it matter in what order the transformations are carried out?

In the past, most experiments in particle physics involved stationary targets: one particle (usually a proton or an electron) was accelerated to a high energy E, and collided with a target particle at rest (Fig. 12.29a). Far higher relative energies are obtainable (with the same accelerator) if you accelerate both particles to energy E, and fire them at each other (Fig. 12.29b). Classically, the energy E¯of one particle, relative to the other, is just 4E(why?) . . . not much of a gain (only a factor of 4). But relativistically the gain can be enormous. Assuming the two particles have the same mass, m, show that

E=2E2mc2=mc2 (12.58)

FIGURE 12.29

Suppose you use protons (mc2=1GeV)with E=30GeV. What Edo you get? What multiple of E does this amount to? (1GeV=109electronvolts)[Because of this relativistic enhancement, most modern elementary particle experiments involve colliding beams, instead of fixed targets.]

Use the Larmor formula (Eq. 11.70) and special relativity to derive the Lienard formula (Eq. 11. 73).

P=μ0q2a26πc   (11.70)P=μ0q2γ66πc(a2-|υ×ac|2)   (11.73)

Obtain the continuity equation (Eq. 12.126) directly from Maxwell’s equations (Eq. 12.127).

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