An Elementary View of Maxwell's Displacement Current

Abstract

Maxwell's displacement current is addressed in the most basic of terms, starting from Coulomb's law. The aim of this approach is to shed new light on some questions that have dogged the concept, and to help understanding of the key issues involved, in particular, cause and effect, common origin of induced magnetic field and displacement current, differences resulting from a fundamental physical view as opposed to a purely phenomenological view, and finally the appropriate choice of magnetic source terms.