Abstract
A unified account, from a pedagogical perspective, is given of the longitudinal and transverse projective delta functions proposed by Belinfante and of their relation to the Helmholtz theorem for the decomposition of a vector field into its longitudinal and transverse components. It is argued that the results are applicable to fields that are time-dependent as well as fields that are time-independent.
Keywords: Classical electromagnetism; Helmholtz's theorem; transverse; longitudinal
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4038/sljp.v12i0.3504
Sri Lankan Journal of Physics, Vol. 12 (2011) 33-42
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4038/sljp.v12i0.3504 | Journal eISSN: 2478-1193
Language: English
Page range: 33 - 42
Published on: Feb 16, 2012
Published by: Institute of Physics, Sri Lanka
In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services
© 2012 A.M. Stewart, published by Institute of Physics, Sri Lanka
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons License.