Frame Indifferent Formulation of Maxwell's Elastic Fluid and the Rational Continuum Mechanics of the Electromagnetic Field

We show that the linearized equations of the incompressible elastic medium admit a `Maxwell form' in which the shear component of the stress vector plays the role of the electric field, and the vorticity plays the role of the magnetic field. Conversely, the set of dynamic Maxwell equations are strict mathematical corollaries from the governing equations of the incompressible elastic medium. This suggests that the nature of `electromagnetic field' may actually be related to an elastic continuous medium. The analogy is complete if the medium is assumed to behave as fluid in shear motions, while it may still behave as elastic solid under compressional motions. Then the governing equations of the elastic fluid are re-derived in the Eulerian frame by replacing the partial time derivatives by the properly invariant (frame indifferent) time rates. The `Maxwell from' of the frame indifferent formulation gives the frame indifferent system that is to replace the Maxwell system. This new system comprises terms already present in the classical Maxwell equations, alongside terms that are the progenitors of the Biot--Savart, Oersted--Ampere's, and Lorentz--force laws. Thus a frame indifferent (truly covariant) formulation of electromagnetism is achieved from a single postulate that the electromagnetic field is a kind of elastic (partly liquid partly solid) continuum.Comment: accepte

Near-integrability of low dimensional periodic Klein-Gordon lattices

The low dimensional periodic Klein-Gordon lattices are studied for integrability. We prove that the periodic lattice with two particles and certain nonlinear potential is non integrable. However, in the cases of up to six particles, we prove that their Birkhoff-Gustavson normal forms are integrable, which allows us to apply KAM theory

Wave Solutions

In classical continuum physics, a wave is a mechanical disturbance. Whether the disturbance is stationary or traveling and whether it is caused by the motion of atoms and molecules or the vibration of a lattice structure, a wave can be understood as a specific type of solution of an appropriate mathematical equation modeling the underlying physics. Typical models consist of partial differential equations that exhibit certain general properties, e.g., hyperbolicity. This, in turn, leads to the possibility of wave solutions. Various analytical techniques (integral transforms, complex variables, reduction to ordinary differential equations, etc.) are available to find wave solutions of linear partial differential equations. Furthermore, linear hyperbolic equations with higher-order derivatives provide the mathematical underpinning of the phenomenon of dispersion, i.e., the dependence of a wave's phase speed on its wavenumber. For systems of nonlinear first-order hyperbolic equations, there also exists a general theory for finding wave solutions. In addition, nonlinear parabolic partial differential equations are sometimes said to posses wave solutions, though they lack hyperbolicity, because it may be possible to find solutions that translate in space with time. Unfortunately, an all-encompassing methodology for solution of partial differential equations with any possible combination of nonlinearities does not exist. Thus, nonlinear wave solutions must be sought on a case-by-case basis depending on the governing equation.Comment: 22 pages, 3 figures; to appear in the Mathematical Preliminaries and Methods section of the Encyclopedia of Thermal Stresses, ed. R.B. Hetnarski, Springer (2014), to appea