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arXiv · 0802.4034

Using Animated Textures to Visualize Electromagnetic Fields and Energy Flow

John Belcher·Carolann Koleci
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Abstract

Animated textures can be used to visualize the spatial structure and temporal evolution of vector fields at high spatial resolution. The animation requires two time-dependent vector fields. The first of these vector fields determines the spatial structure to be displayed. The second is a velocity field that determines the time evolution of the field lines of the first vector field. We illustrate this method with an example in magneto-quasi-statics, where the second velocity field is taken to be the ExB drift velocity of electric monopoles. This technique for displaying time-dependent electromagnetic fields has three pedagogical advantages: (1) the continuous nature of the representation underscores the action-by-contact nature of forces transmitted by fields; (2) the animated texture motion shows the direction of electromagnetic energy flow; and (3) the time-evolving field configuration enables insights into Maxwell stresses.

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John Belcher, Carolann Koleci. 2008-02-27. Using Animated Textures to Visualize Electromagnetic Fields and Energy Flow. https://arxiv.org/abs/0802.4034

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