Gauge classical electrodynamics

Therefore, this is a statement of our fundamental hypothesis, specifically, that the topology of the vacuum defines the field equations through group and gauge field theory. Prior to the inference and empirical verification of the Aharonov-Bohm effect, there was no such concept in classical electrodynamics, the ether having been denied by Lorentz, Poincare, Einstein, and others. Our development of 0(3) electrodynamics in this chapter, therefore, has a well-defined basis in fundamental topology and empirical data. In the course of the development of... 

A simple example in classical electrodynamics of what is now known as gauge invariance was introduced by Heaviside [3,4], who reduced the original electrodynamical equations of Maxwell to their present form. Therefore, these equations are more properly known as the Maxwell-Heaviside equations and, in the terminology of contemporary gauge field theory, are identifiable as U(l) Yang-Mills equations [15]. The subj ect of this chapter is 0(3) Yang-Mills gauge theory applied to electrodynamics and electroweak theory. 

QUANTUM ELECTRODYNAMICS POTENTIALS, GAUGE INVARIANCE, AND ANALOGY TO CLASSICAL ELECTRODYNAMICS... 

In classical electrodynamics, the field equations for the Maxwell field A/( depend only on the antisymmetric tensor which is invariant under a gauge transformation A/l A/l + ticduxix), where x is an arbitrary scalar field in space-time. Thus the vector field A/( is not completely determined by the theory. It is customary to impose an auxiliary gauge condition, such as 9/x/Fx = 0, in order to simplify the field equations. In the presence of an externally determined electric current density 4-vector j11, the Maxwell Lagrangian density is... 

In theories that are gauge invariant we are free either to try to work in a manifestly gauge-invariant fashion, or, since it cannot affect the final physical results, to choose a convenient gauge in which to work. In classical electrodynamics one often uses the Lorentz gauge in which... 

The Maxwell-Heaviside theory seen as a U(l) symmetry gauge field theory has no explanation for the photoelectric effect, which is the emission of electrons from metals on ultraviolet irradiation [39]. Above a threshold frequency, the emission is instantaneous and independent of radiation intensity. Below the threshold, there is no emission, however intense the radiation. In U(l), electrodynamics energy is proportional to intensity and there is, consequently, no possible explanation for the photoelectric effect, which is conventionally regarded as an archetypical quantum effect. In classical 0(3) electrodynamics, the effect is simply... 

The Aharonov-Bohm effect is self-inconsistent in U(l) electrodynamics because [44] the effect depends on the interaction of a vector potential A with an electron, but the magnetic field defined by = V x A is zero at the point of interaction [44]. This argument can always be used in U(l) electrodynamics to counter the view that the classical potential A is physical, and adherents of the received view can always assert in U(l) electrodynamics that the potential must be unphysical by gauge freedom. If, however, the Aharonov-Bohm effect is seen as an effect of 0(3) electrodynamics, or of SU(2) electrodynamics [44], it is easily demonstrated that the effect is due to the physical inhomogeneous term appearing in Eq. (25). This argument is developed further in Section VI. 

In Section I, it was argued that 0(3) electrodynamics on the classical level emerges from a vacuum configuration that can be described with an 0(3) symmetry gauge group. On the QED level, this concept is developed by considering higher-order terms in the Hamiltonian... 

The principle behind this derivation is the gauge principle, and so is the same for all gauge groups. The equivalence (456) was first demonstrated on the 0(3) level [15], but evidently exists for all gauge group symmetries. The gauge principle in electrodynamics therefore leads to the energy and momentum of the photon and classical field. The 4-current J appears in both Eqs. (443) and (444) and is self-dual, a result that is echoed in the self-duality of the vacuum field equations ... 

There has been an unusual amount of debate concerning the development of 0(3) electrodynamics, over a period of 7 years. When the 2 (3) field was first proposed [48], it was not realized that it was part of an 0(3) electrodynamics homomorphic with Barrett s SU(2) invariant electrodynamics [50] and therefore had a solid basis in gauge theory. The first debate published [70,79] was between Barron and Evans. The former proposed that B,3> violates C and CPT symmetry. This incorrect assertion was adequately answered by Evans at the time, but it is now clear that if B<3) violated C and CPT, so would classical gauge theory, a reduction to absurdity. For example, Barrett s SU(2) invariant theory [50] would violate C... 

In face of the relative paucity of measurement data for the occurrence of the B 3 field this appears to be the most reasonable conclusion that can be drawn, and yet still uphold the basic premise that electrodynamics has an extended gauge group structure. This would mean that research along these lines should be directed towards a more complete understanding of the interaction of electromagnetic fields and nonlinear media. This may imply that while B 3 vanishes, while its underlying symmetries still exist, this field may become present as the QED vacuum is charge polarized by the presence of atoms in certain media. As searches for a classical B field in... 

Einstein s theory of special relativity relying on a modified principle cf relativity is presented and the Lorentz transformations are identified as the natural coordinate transformations of physics. This necessarily leads to a modification cf our perception of space and time and to the concept of a four-dimensional unified space-time. Its basic Mnematic and dynamical implications on classical mechanics are discussed. Maxwell s gauge theory of electrodynamics is presented in its natural covariant 4-vector form. 

In section 2.4 a brief summary of Maxwell s theory of electrodynamics has been presented in its classical, three-dimensional form. Since electrodynamics intrinsically is a relativistic gauge field theory, the structure and symmetry properties of this theory become much more apparent in its natural, explicitly... 

---