Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-symmetry-and-relativity-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2016/4/d/i/solution
Past exam of the symmetry and relativity course of the University of Oxford 2016 4 d i Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-25
Model the wire as an infinite straight line along . Let be its rest-frame line charge density and its laboratory line charge density. Length contraction gives . If the symbol in the source is intended as volume charge density, replace these line densities by their integrals over the cross section; an unspecified wire radius does not determine an interior field.
In the comoving frame the wire is static, so Gauss's law and cylindrical symmetry give the exterior fieldsIf the source's means laboratory line density, this electric field is ; if it means proper line density, it is . Stating the density's reference frame is necessary for an unambiguous factor of .
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