Abstract
The relationship between the Lorentz force and the energy and momentum in the electromagnetic field is illustrated with some striking examples for systems of point charges moving at constant velocities. For these systems, the kinetic energy and momentum associated with particle mass do not change, while the external forces which balance the interparticle Lorentz forces give exactly the rate of change of energy, momentum, and angular momentum in the electromagnetic fields. Calculations along roughly these lines have been performed to order c−2 by Page and Adams. The present evaluations are noteworthy in that they are exact, and also in that the necessary electromagnetic field integrals over all space have been reduced to delta function integrations. In the limiting charge distributions involving infinite energy density at spatial infinity, the connection of the Lorentz force with electromagnetic energy and momentum is lost.
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