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Electromagnetism in a nutshell

Ñ · E = ρ

Ñ x E = - dB / dt

Ñ · B = 0

Ñ x B = J - dE / dt

About 20 years later, Lorentz wrote down the force equation,

F = q(E + v x B)

Today we usually note that Maxwell's Equations can be simplified by using a scalar potential φ and a vector potential A,

E = -Ñφ - dΑ/dt

B = Ñ x A

resulting in

Ѳφ  - 1 / c² d²φ / dt² = -ρ

ѲA  - 1 / c² d²A/ dt² = -J

Einstein recognized that these equations could be put into one equation by combining φ and A into a four vector, and ρ and J into another four vector, resulting in

A_μ,νν - A_ν,μν = J_μ

That's it then, all of electromagnetism in one simple equation. Well, perhaps there's just a little more to discuss about this subject.

We'll start with electrostatics, the theory of electricity when nothing is changing in time. This means that all the time derivatives are zero, and we won't consider any magnetic fields. In this case, all we need is Poisson's equation,

Ñ²Φ  = -ρ

or if there are no charges present, LaPlace's equation

Ñ²Φ  = 0

It will turn out that these exceedingly simply equations have fantastically rich solutions. It will also turn out we will only be able to solve them in a few particular circumstances, circumstances which include enough symmetry and other simplifications so that we can make huge simplifying assumptions.