nLab Lorentz force

Contents

Context

Physics

physics, mathematical physics, philosophy of physics

Surveys, textbooks and lecture notes


theory (physics), model (physics)

experiment, measurement, computable physics

Contents

Idea

The Lorentz force is the force exerted on a particle that is charged under the electromagnetic field.

See relativistic particle for details.

Properties

In Kaluza-Klein compactifications

If one models the electromagnetic field via the Kaluza-Klein mechanism as a field of gravity on a fiber bundle, then trajectories of charged particles subject to the Lorentz force in the base space of that bundle are euivalently just geodesics on the total space, e.g. (Bleecker 81). An exposition of this fact is in (Bartlett 13).

References

Named after Hendrik Lorentz.

Textbook accounts:

  • V. C. A. Ferraro, §303 in: Electromagnetic Theory, The Athlone Press (1954, 1956)

Discussion in worldline Lagrangian mechanics:

See also

On generalization to the spinning particle:

Discussion of Lorentz force from the point of view of the Kaluza-Klein mechanism:

  • David Bleecker, Gauge theory and variational principles, Dover publications, 1981.

and exposition is in

Last revised on September 10, 2023 at 17:26:52. See the history of this page for a list of all contributions to it.