Dynamics of a Conductor with Unclosed Alternative Electric Current

Abstract

The ponderomotive interaction of displacement currents and conduction currents in an open conductor through which an alternating electric current flows is considered. The calculation is performed for a flat conductor of arbitrary shape. It has been shown that the displacement current does not create a nonzero force that would act on an open conductor. The so-called force of self-action, with which the conductor acts on itself, is compensated by the force of Abraham, transmitted to the electromagnetic field. The absolutely exact fulfillment of the law of conservation of momentum, which includes the latent momentum of the field, has been demonstrated. The density of Abraham's force is determined by the vector product of the derivative of the electric field in-duction by the magnetic field induction. As an example, a numerical calculation of the self-force and the Abraham force for a thin ring conductor is carried out. The ratio of Abraham's force to the square of the conduction current depends only on the relative dimensions of the conductor. The maximum Abraham's force is observed for a conductor representing half of a flat ring.