Classical electromagnetism and special relativity

This article is about the contribution of special relativity to the modern theory of classical electromagnetism. For the contribution of classical electromagnetism to the development of special relativity, see History of special relativity. For a fully covariant discussion, see Covariant formulation of classical electromagnetism.

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The theory of special relativity plays an important role in the modern theory of classical electromagnetism. It gives formulas for how electromagnetic objects, in particular the electric and magnetic fields, are altered under a Lorentz transformation from one inertial frame of reference to another. It sheds light on the relationship between electricity and magnetism, showing that frame of reference determines if an observation follows electric or magnetic laws. It motivates a compact and convenient notation for the laws of electromagnetism, namely the "manifestly covariant" tensor form.

Maxwell's equations, when they were first stated in their complete form in 1865, would turn out to be compatible with special relativity.[1] Moreover, the apparent coincidences in which the same effect was observed due to different physical phenomena by two different observers would be shown to be not coincidental in the least by special relativity. In fact, half of Einstein's 1905 first paper on special relativity, "On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies", explains how to transform Maxwell's equations.

  1. ^ Haskell. "Questions remain about the treatment of accelerating charges – Special relativity and Maxwell's equations". Archived from the original on 2008-01-01.