arXiv subjects
Publications and source records attributed to Nathan A. Lanfear.
We consider a complex covariant form of the macroscopic Maxwell equations, in a moving medium or at rest, following the original ideas of Minkowski. A compact, Lorentz invariant, derivation of the energy-momentum tensor and the corresponding differential balance equations are given. Conservation laws and quantization of electromagnetic field will be discussed in this covariant approach elsewhere.
We analyze basic relativistic wave equations for the classical fields, such as Dirac's equation, Weyl's two-component equation for massless neutrinos, and the Proca, Maxwell, and Fierz-Pauli equations, from the viewpoint of the Pauli-Lubanski vector and the Casimir operators of the Poincare group. In general, in this group-theoretical approach, the above wave equations arise in certain overdetermined forms, which can be reduced to the conventional ones by a Gaussian elimination. A connection between the spin of a particle/field and consistency of the corresponding overdetermined system is emphasized in the massless case.
We critically analyze the concept of photon helicity and its connection with the Pauli-Lubanski vector from the viewpoint of the complex electromagnetic field, F=E+iH, sometimes attributed to Riemann but studied by Weber, Silberstein, and Minkowski. To this end, a complex form of Maxwell's equations is used.