Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2016/ib/paper-1/16d/a/solution

In electrostatics, the relevant Maxwell equations reduce to and . For a volume with outward unit normal , integrate the first equation and apply the divergence theorem:
This is the integral form of Gauss's law, with the enclosed electric charge. The zero curl is the accompanying condition allowing an electrostatic potential locally, and globally when the domain permits one.

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