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Energy and momentum of electromagnetic waves in media

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Abstract

The persistently unsolved Abraham–Minkowski controversy (A-MC) is usually associated with division of the total energy–momentum density tensor into electromagnetic and material components. In this work, characteristics of energy and momentum of electromagnetic waves in free space, lossless and lossy media are, respectively, addressed non-relativistically based on conservation or continuity equations. Combining progress of relativistic studies on A-MC and related topics, we demonstrate that, comparing with the treatment of dividing total momentum into electromagnetic and material components, to self-consistently describe properties of both electromagnetic energy and momentum, it is more favorable to take the electromagnetic wave arising in media as a natural whole, i.e., both energy and momentum are no longer to be divided into electromagnetic and material components. This work may be useful to properly describe energy and momentum of electromagnetic waves in media, find reasonable solution of A-MC, and further develop theory of electrodynamics of moving media.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Electronic and Optical Engineering, Nanjing University of Posts & Telecommunications, Nanjing, 210023, People’s Republic of China

    Jiangwei Chen & Quanzhi Kougong

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  1. Jiangwei Chen
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  2. Quanzhi Kougong
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Correspondence to Jiangwei Chen.

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Chen, J., Kougong, Q. Energy and momentum of electromagnetic waves in media. J Opt 53, 788–796 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12596-023-01183-0

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