Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-symmetry-and-relativity-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2022/1/c/solution
Past exam of the symmetry and relativity course of the University of Oxford 2022 1 c Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-25
Take the divergence of the Ampère-Maxwell equation and use that the divergence of a curl is zero:The last step uses Gauss's law. Thus the charge continuity equation is exactlyFor a direct justification that this four-current is a four-vector, take one locally comoving population of electric charges, with rest charge density and four-velocity . Invariance of electric charge and length contraction give and , hence . Summing populations preserves the four-vector rule. In particular, and . The Lorentz invariance of its four-divergence then explains why charge conservation holds in every inertial frame. A single zero-divergence condition alone would not determine a field's transformation law; the physical charge density and current density provide the additional content.
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