POTD 269

1 Problem:

a) Every conductor has some inductance. Calculating this inductance turns out to be very
difficult, mathematically speaking, but, however, you can estimate it using a simplified model:

• Let’s consider a cylindrical and infinite conductor, of radius R. The electric current is uniformly
distributed inside the cylinder. On the surface, there is a thin conductor, isolated from the first
one, through which there it flows current in the opposite direction. Calculate the inductance
per unit length of this system.

For the rest of the poblem, the thin conductor will be neglected.

b) In a real conductor, electrons (with mass me ), directed by electrical fields, are constantly
colliding with each other and with the conductor’s impurities. The effects of all of those interactions
can be summed up to the presence of a viscous force, f⃗c = − m⃗τ
v
, where τ is a constant parameter,
called relaxation time.
⃗
• Considering that the electric field inside the conductor can be expressed as E(t) ⃗ 0 sin ωt,
=E
find the velocity of an electron.

• For a cylindrical conductor (with length D and radius r), find the relation between the electrical
potential between its ends and the intensity of the current. (the number of electrons per unit-
volume is n).

• Find the inductive and resistive term from the found expression. The inductive term is also
called Inertial Inductance.

c) For a wave A = A0 cos(kx − ωt), where ω = ck, c is the speed of the wave. For usual materials,
c has a constant value and k grows when ω grows. However, for some artificial materials, c varies
with ω such that k gets smaller as ω grows. Such phenomena is called Negative Refraction. Let’s
consider the infinite LC circuit from Fig. 1. The length of a cell is a.

Fig. 1

1
12th of September 2020 POTD 269 Author: MrTryHqrd

• Write the differential equation that bonds Vm−1 (t), Vm (t) and Vm+1 (t).

• Suppose that the above solution admits a wave-type solution, just like the one showed previ-
ously in this problem. Find the relation between ω and k.

• Does the above result implies negative refraction?

2 Solution:

a) Let R′ be the radius of the thin conductor and let d be the separation between the conductors.
Using Ampère’s Law, we conclude that the magnetic field inside the system, as a function of the
distance to the center of the first conductor, is:

• for r ≤ R: B(r) = µr µ0 I
2πR2
r

• for R < r ≤ R + d: B(r) = µ0 I

2πr

Since the second conductor is thin, we’ll just ignore the magnetic flux that goes through it. Now,
we’ll get the following expression for the magnetic flux per unit length through the system:
∫ R ∫ R+d
′ πr2 µr µ0 I µ0 I µr µ0 I µ0 I R + d
ϕ = 2 2
rdr + dr ⇒ ϕ′ = + ln
0 πR 2πR R 2πr 8π 2π R
But d ≪ R, so we can do the approximation:
′
′ µr µ0 I µ0 I d L′ = ∂ϕ µr µ0 µ0 d
ϕ ≈ + ==== ⇒ L′ =
∂I
+
8π 2π R 8π 2π R
b) Firstly, let’s write Newton’s 2nd law for the motion of one electron inside the conductor:

⃗ = me⃗v˙ ⇒ me⃗v˙ + me⃗v − q E

f⃗c + q E ⃗ =0
τ
At the initial moment, the mean-velocity of all electrons inside the conductor is 0, so the above
equation can be wrote scalar as well:

˙ + me ⟨v⟩ = qE =
me ⟨v⟩
E=E0 sin ωt
=====⇒ me ⟨v⟩ ˙ + me ⟨v⟩ = qE0 sin ωt
τ τ
Let u be a complex function, such that ℑ(u) = ⟨v⟩, and u is the solution of the equation:
u qE0 iωt
u̇ +
= e
τ me
Now, we must prove that there exists such a complex function. To do this, we can suppose that
u = Aeiωt . Therefore, the last equation becomes:
qτ E
A iωt qE0 iωt A qE0 0
qτ 1 − iωτ
iωAe iωt
+ e = e ⇒ (iωτ + 1) = ⇒ A= me
⇒ A = E0
τ me τ me (1 + iωτ ) me 1 + ω 2 τ 2

Hence, the expression of u is:

qτ 1 − iωτ iωt
qτ
E0 m ( )
u = E0 e ⇒ u = e
(cos ωt + ωτ sin ωt) + i(sin ωt − ωτ cos ωt)
me 1 + ω 2 τ 2 1 + ω2τ 2
12th of September 2020 POTD 269 Author: MrTryHqrd

The above expression is not general and it doesn’t satisfy the condition v = 0 at t = 0. Therefore,
−t
the expression of u contains a term (B + iC)e τ :
qτ
E0 m ( −t −t
)
u= e
(cos ωt + ωτ sin ωt + Be τ ) + i(sin ωt − ωτ cos ωt + Ce τ )
1 + ω2τ 2
At t = 0, ℑ(u) = 0, so we’ll get:

C − ωτ = 0 ⇒ C = ωτ
Hence, there exists a function u that satisfies all the imposed conditions, and the expression of
⟨v⟩ is:
qτ
E0 m ( )
sin ωt + ωτ (e− τ − cos ωt)
t
⟨v⟩ = e

1 + ω2τ 2
Let’s get back to our initial equation. The cross-sectional area of the conductor is constant, so
the current intensity through it is I = πr2 nqv. Also, the electric field is constant in space and we
can ignore the magnetic effects, so the potential difference between the ends of the conductor must
be V = ED. Now, if we plug everything in our initial equation, we’ll get:
me ˙ me I q
2
I+ 2 =V
πr nq πr nqτ D
Rearranging terms, we’ll get:
me D ˙ me D = 0
V −I − I
πr2 nq 2 τ πr2 nq 2
Hence, the resistive and inductive terms are:

me D me D
R= Li =
πr2 nq 2 τ πR2 nq 2
c) From Kirchhoff’s 1st law for the m-th node of the circuit, we’ll get:

Im = Im+1 + IL, m ⇒ C(V̇m−1 − V̇m ) = C(V̇m−1 − V̇m ) + IL, m ⇒ C(2V¨m − V̈m−1 − V̈m+1 ) = I˙L, m

Also, if we neglect the resistance of the inductor, we’ll get:

Vm
Vm = −LI˙L, m ⇒ I˙L, m = −
L
If we plug the last equation in the first one, we’ll get:

LC(2V¨m − V̈m−1 − V̈m+1 ) = −Vm

Let’s suppose that the above equation admits a the wave-form solution Ṽm = V0 ei(ωt−mka) . If it
is possible, Vm would be the real part of it (we want to get a wave-type expression like the one from
the problem). Let’s plug the expression of Ṽm in the last equation:

( )
−ω V0 LC 2e
2 i(ωt−mka)
−e i(ωt−(m−1)ka)
−e i(ωt−(m+1)ka)
= −V0 ei(ωt−mka) ⇒ ω 2 LC(2 − eika − e−ika ) = 1

eix +e−ix
It is well know that cos x = 2
. Hence, the above equation becomes:
12th of September 2020 POTD 269 Author: MrTryHqrd

√
( ) 1
2ω 2 LC 1 − cos ka = 1 ⇒ ω =
2LC(1 − cos ka)

Now, taking the derivative of ω with respect to k, we’ll get:

∂ω 1 a sin ka
=− √ 3
∂k 2 2LC (1 − cos ka) 2
3
The (1 − cos ka) 2 term always stays positive, so the sign of the derivative depends on the sign of
sin ka. Hence, when [ ka
π
] is even, the result implies negative refraction, and when it is odd, it doesn’t.