Field Theory And Weak Euler-Langrange Equation For Classical Particle-field Systems
Authors: Hong Qin, Joshua W. Burby and Ronald C. Davidson
Abstract: It is commonly believed that energy-momentum conservation is the result of space-time symmetry.
However, for classical particle-field systems, e.g., Klimontovich-Maxwell and Klimontovich-
Poisson systems, such a connection hasn't been formally established. The difficulty is due to the
fact that particles and the electromagnetic fields reside on different manifolds. To establish the
connection, the standard Euler-Lagrange equation needs to be generalized to a weak form. Using
this technique, energy-momentum conservation laws that are difficult to find otherwise can be
systematically derived.
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Submitted to: Physical Review Letters (April 2014)
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Download PPPL-5023 (pdf 278 KB 12 pp)
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