CHARACTERIZATION OF MOVING MEDIA IN CLASSICAL ELECTRODYNAMICS WITH SPACETIME ALGEBRA
Paiva, C. R.
;
Matos, S.A.
CHARACTERIZATION OF MOVING MEDIA IN CLASSICAL ELECTRODYNAMICS WITH SPACETIME ALGEBRA, Proc International Conf. on Clifford Algebras and their Applications - ICCA9, Weimar, Germany, Vol. 1, pp. 1 - 10, July, 2011.
Digital Object Identifier:
Abstract
The Gibbsian 3D constitutive relations for the electromagnetic characterization of material media do not convey the same information as the corresponding 4D spacetime characterization in Minkowskian space. In fact, if the 4D relation is a manifestly covariant equation, then it is applicable to the whole class of inertial observers. In this sense, the classic topic of moving media is superfluous: all the required information is implicit in the 4D spacetime characterization. In this communication we use spacetime algebra (STA) to study the manifestly covariant characterization of bi-isotropic media. Our main goal is to discuss the new concept of perfect electromagnetic conductor (PEMC). We will show that this paradigmatic medium in electromagnetics has been incorrectly characterized. We argue that this is a direct consequence of the fact that it has not been recognized how a PEMC is just a special case of a more general class of Minkowskian isotropic media (MIM) in axion electrodynamics.