Faraday's Law of Induction

and the Electromagnetic

Vector Potential.
UNPUBLISHED. WORK IN PROGRESS

Jeffrey F. Gold
Department of Physics, Department of Mathematics
University of Utah

Abstra ct
Faraday's Law of Induction is characterized by two expressions- the line integral form f E dl, and the rate of change of flux , -~fit J B da. These equations
describe two different manifestations of the same phenomenon but are equivalent under very specific circumstances. It is possible to hypothesize a Gedanken
experiment in which the equality of the two forms of Faraday's Law does not
hold. Although the physical conditions for this hypothesis do not exist, an exploration of this issue raises important points about the role of the electromagnetic
vector potential and the topology of the space in which it resides. The physical
situation described possibly alludes to a generalization of the Aharonov-Bohm
effect [1].

Introduction
In 1831, Michael Faraday presented his findings on electromagnetic induction
which were published in 1839 as Experimental Researches in Electricity. According to this established phenomenon, a current is generated in a sensing wire
r if the magnetic flux <I>", through a surface a bounded by the wire, changes

Faraday's Law of Induction and the Electromagnetic Vector Potential.

with time. The electromotive force, [, is given by

[ = -~ d<I>u

c dt '
where <I> u is the magnetic flux given by

where B is the magnetic field and the dii are areal segments of some surface u
bounded by r. Because V B = 0, the surface u is not unique; hence any closed
surface with the boundary r satisfies this criterium.
The changing magnetic field produces an accompanying electric field. 1 This
allows us to formulate the secondary form of the electromagnetic force as the
line integral

=
where

E is the electric field

iEdf,

and the df are line segments along the boundary

r.

The Gedanken Experiment

Because the two formulations characterize two different manifestations of the
same phenomenon, we hypothesize an experiment involving a magnetic field and
a sensing wire which will contrast the differences of the physical mechanisms
involved.
The geometrical arrangement in Fig. 1 illustrates an experiment to determine
the action of a completely shielded toroidal magnetic field on a Cu sensing wire.
As seen in the figure, the Cu wire is linked to the toroid in such a manner that
any flat surface u, bounded by the wire, necessarily contains a cross-section
of the toroid. This toroid, driven by an alternating current source, generates
an alternating magnetic field which is contained entirely within the physical
dimensions of the toroid; that is to say, no magnetic field is in "physical" contact
with the Cu sensing wire.
Because real wires have non-zero dimensions, there will also exist a component of the magnetic field which deviates from that of the confined field due
to the pitch in the wrapped wire; it is parallel to the axis of the toroid and is
generated by the resulting surface current . To remedy this stray field, and for
reasons of this investigation, the toroidal magnet is completely shielded on all
surfaces by a hypothetical enclosure which does not permit any magnetic fields
to stray beyond the space within the enclosure. The magnetic enclosure is also
lThis, in fact, is the formal statement of Faraday 's Law and is one of Maxwell's four
equations.

Faraday's Law of Induction and the Electromagnetic Vector Potential.

Figure 0.1: Set-up of Gedanken Experiment . The items labeled are: (1) Fecore toroidal magnet, (2) field-shielding enclosure, (3) Cu sensing wire, and (4)
alternating current source.
not permitted to establish internal currents which would screen the enclosed
magnetic field.
The Gedanken experiment is an attempt to decouple the electric field from
the magnetic field. In other words, our aim here is to shield the toroidal magnet
with some "exotic" material (exotic here meaning, of course, any material that
would produce the desired effect), which would topologically isolate the toroidal
magnetic field from the surrounding space.

The Strong and Weak Conditions of Faraday's

Law
Supposing such an "exotic" material exists, and that no electric field E is present
in the space surrounding the enclosure, the line integral

Faraday's Law of Induction and the Electromagnetic Vector Potential.

implies that the current in the sensing wire is zero. However, the Electromotive
Force given by

1-

1 d
=--Bda
c dt u
is of a finite, non-zero value. This kind of scenario stipulates that the equality

r:E . df

lr

= -

~~

r:B . da

c dt lu

does not hold in the case of this hypothetically enclosed magnetic field.
Since a current is sensed in the wire, if the experiment is performed, this
exploration forces us to conclude the following points: that the form
=

iEdf

is the stronger condition of Faraday's Law and that

1d
=--c dt

1-

Bda

is a weaker form of Faraday's Law. That is to say, since the magnetic field in this
hypothetical experiment has absolutely no "physical" contact with the sensing
wire, we must conclude that the electric field (generated by the magnetic field,
but embedded in the electromagnetic vector potential) is the driving mechanism
of the current exhibited in the sensing wire.

The Electromagnetic Vector Potential

This Gedanken experiment alludes to some interesting ramifications regarding
the nature of space, its topology, and the electromagnetic vector potential. What
this implies, is the fact that, since no such magnetic enclosure can exist, the electromagnetic vector potential must exist in a topologically isolated space different
from the space containing the magnetic and electric fields. While electric and
magnetic fields may, in fact, be shielded using other electromagnetic fields, the
electromagnetic vector potential seems to permeate all space and matter with
impunity.
Since a current is in fact generated in the sensing wire, it must be through
an action similar to that of the Aharonov-Bohm effect. In 1959, Y. Aharonov
and D. Bohm [1] proposed a theory outlining the effects of electromagnetic
vector potentials in the quantum regime. In their thought experiment, which
has since been verified at the quantum mechanical level [2] and mesoscopic scale
[3], electrons are acted upon directly by the electromagnetic vector potential A
in a field-free region . It seems that the same mechanism is at work here, i.e., this
Gedanken experiment, which could easily be performed, is a classical analogue
of the Aharonov-Bohm effect.

Faraday 's Law of Induction and the Electromagnetic Vector Potential.

Conclusion
From the Gedanken experiment we may infer that the equality of the two terms
of Faraday's Law, i.e. , the line integral form f E dl, and the rate of change of
flux equation, - ~ J B da, holds because the electromagnetic vector potential
seemingly permeates all space unobstructed; that is to say, there exists no way
of topologically isolating one region of space from another with respect to the
electromagnetic vector potential.

ft

References
[I] Y. Aharonov and D. Bohm, Phys. Rev. 115(3) , 485 (I959).
[2] R. G. Chambers , Phys. Rev. Let. 5(I), 3 (I960).
[3] J . Imry and R. Webb , Sci. Am. 260, 56 (I989) .
[4] Jorge Pullin. Personal communication.

[5] Robert H. Romer, Am. J . Phys. 50(I2), I089 (I982).

[6] M.V. Berry, R. G. Chambers, M.D. Large, C. Upstill, and J . C. Walmsley,
Eur. J. Phys. 1, I54 (I980).

[7] E. Merzbacher, Am. J . Phys. 30(4), 237 (Apr. I962) .

[8] H. Erlichson, Am. J . Phys . 38(2), I62 (Feb. I970).
[9] G. Casati and I. Guarneri, Phys. Rev. Let. 42(24), I579 (I979) .
[IOJ S. M. Roy, Phys . Rev. Let . 44(3) , Ill (I980) .
[11] T. T. Wu and C. N. Yang, Phys. Rev. D 12(I2) , 3845 (I975) .

jgold@physics. utah. edu