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The temporal component found in part (a) gives directlyFor a constant electric field, this is the work done by the field along the particle trajectory:

In electrostatic equilibrium, a nonzero electric field inside a conductor would move its free charges. Hence $E=0$ in the conducting material and the potential is constant throughout each connected conductor. Immediately outside its surface the tangential electric field is zero. A Gaussian pillbox across the surface givesSince $E_{\mathrm{in}}=0$, the electrostatic boundary conditions at a conductor give

For the widely separated shells, let their charges be $Q_1,Q_2$. Their common potential requiresThus the charge sharing between distant connected spheres is

For the charge on connected concentric spherical shells, the potentials at the two radii areEquality forces $Q_1=0$. Henceso all charge lies on the exterior of the outer shell.

For the neutral sphere in the uniform field, the far-field condition gives $\alpha =-E$. Constancy of the potential on $r=R$ gives $\beta =E{R}^3$. ThereforeThe outward normal field at the surface isThe induced charge on a conducting sphere in a uniform electric field is consequentlyFinally,confirming neutrality.

A dielectric is a medium whose constituent charges become polarized by an applied electric field; it may also acquire a magnetization. Spatial variation of $P$ leaves uncompensated dipole charge, giving ${\rho }_{\mathrm{bd}}=-\nabla \cdot P$. Time-dependent polarization transports charge and aligned microscopic current loops contribute magnetization current, giving the bound charge and bound current

With $H=p_j{p}_j/(2m)$, the stated brackets giveandThus $m\ddot{\mathbf{q}}=e\dot{\mathbf{q}}\times \mathbf{B}$, the Lorentz-force equation with zero electric field. The magnetic interaction has been moved from the Hamiltonian into the noncanonical symplectic structure.

The dispersion relation is $\omega =ck$. At a perfect conductor the tangential electric field and normal magnetic field vanish. Thus $E_{ref}=-E_0\hat{x}{e}^{i(-kz+\omega t)}$ and $B_{ref}=-E_0\hat{y}{e}^{i(-kz+\omega t)}/c$. At the surface the magnetic field is $-2E_0\hat{y}/c$, so with outward normal $\hat{z}$ the surface current is $K=2E_0\hat{x}/({\mu }_{0}c)$ (real parts understood).

The space ${\mathbb{R}}^3$ is simply connected, and the electric field has zero curl. Hence it is a conservative vector field. More explicitly, Stokes theorem gives zero circulation around any closed loop, since such a loop bounds a spanning surface in ${\mathbb{R}}^3$. Therefore the line integral between two fixed endpoints is independent of the chosen path.

Fix a reference point ${\mathbf{r}}_0$ and define the electric potentialTaking a short straight terminal segment in each coordinate direction shows ${\partial }_j\phi =-E_j$. ConsequentlyThe electric potential is determined up to an additive constant; the later condition at infinity fixes that constant for the finite charge distribution in part (b).

For any bounded volume $V$ with piecewise smooth closed boundary and outward unit normal vector $\mathbf{n}$, Gauss's law in integral form isThus the outward electric flux equals the enclosed electric charge divided by the vacuum permittivity. To prove it, apply the divergence theorem to the electric field and use its given divergence:The classical proof assumes the requisite differentiability of the electric field. For piecewise smooth charge densities, one may apply the divergence theorem piece by piece and cancel the internal fluxes.

For the thin spherical charge layer limit, smoothness of $h$ givesThus the shell's total electric charge tends to $4\pi {\rho }_0{a}^3{h}^{\prime }(1)$ while its thickness tends to zero. At each fixed $r>a$, the observation point eventually lies outside the shell, whereas at each fixed $r<a$ the interior electric field is unchanged. The limiting electric field away from the sphere is thereforeIts outward-minus-inward jump isPhysically, the limit is a uniformly charged ball of charge density ${\rho }_0$, together with an infinitesimally thin spherical shell of uniform surface charge densityIndeed its electric charge is $4\pi a^2\sigma$, and the standard normal electric field jump is $\sigma /{ϵ}_0$. The surface charge density can have either sign, or vanish, according to $h^{\prime }(1)$.

The order of limits matters. For every finite $\delta >0$, taking the two one-sided limits at $r=a$ first gives zero jump. The displayed nonzero jump is obtained by first taking $\delta \to 0$ at fixed points on either side, then approaching $a$. The value at the surface itself need not coincide with either trace of the limiting electric field.

Set $r=R$ in the enclosed electric charge formula:Outside the entire charge distribution, Gauss's law gives $E_r(r)=Q/(4\pi {ϵ}_0{r}^2)$. Integrating $E_r=-{\phi }^{\prime }$ with $\phi (\infty )=0$ givesThus the exterior electric potential and electric field are exactly those of a point charge $Q$ placed at the center. This is the electrostatic shell theorem: outside a spherically symmetric charge distribution, only its total electric charge affects the electric field, not how that electric charge is distributed radially. If positive and negative electric charges cancel to give $Q=0$, both exterior quantities vanish.

By the assumed spherical symmetry of the electric potential, the electric field is radial: $\mathbf{E}=E_r(r){\mathbf{e}}_r$ for $r>0$. On a sphere of radius $r$, Gauss's law therefore readsPut $R=a(1+\delta )$. For $r<a$, the enclosed electric charge is $4\pi {\rho }_0{r}^3/3$. In the spherical shell, the factor $s^2$ in the volume element cancels $s^{-2}$ in the charge density, soIt follows thatAt the origin the first formula gives $\mathbf{E}=0$ without needing a radial unit vector. At both shell interfaces the adjacent formulas agree: for every fixed $\delta >0$, there is no surface charge concentrated on either sphere, and the electric field is continuous there. No sign restriction on $h^{\prime }$ has been assumed, so the shell charge density and the radial electric field can be negative.

Inside the sphere, the electric field has the form $\mathbf{E}=\nabla [-k{r}^2/(2a^3)]$, including at the origin. Thus it is a conservative vector field. Outside, use the gradient of a radial function to obtainThis is also an explicit potential of a conservative vector field, single-valued throughout the exterior region. Equivalently, the curl vanishes in both regions: for a radial coefficient $h(r)$, $\nabla \times (h\mathbf{r})=\nabla h\times \mathbf{r}+h\nabla \times \mathbf{r}=0$ because $\nabla h$ is radial. The interior formula avoids any apparent $1/r$ issue at the origin. The vector-field potentials here have the opposite sign from the electric potential convention used in (b).

The condition at infinity gives $C_{\mathrm{out}}=0$. Matching the electric potential at $r=a$ givesConsequentlyThis function is finite and differentiable at the origin. At the joining radius, both $V$ and $V^{\prime }$ match, giving $V(a)=-k/a$ and $V^{\prime }(a)=k/a^2$. Thus the electric field is continuous there as well as being conservative on each side. This is the potential of a uniform spherical source, with source coefficient $3k/a^3$.

Write $A=Q/(2\pi {ϵ}_0{a}^2)$. The Taylor expansion $\sqrt{a^2+z^2}=a+z^2/(2a)+O(z^4/a^3)$ gives the near-axis resultTo extend off the axis, work separately above and below the charged plane. In either source-free half-space the regular axisymmetric solid harmonics are $r^n{P}_n(\cos \theta )$. Matching the positive-axis coefficients, using $P_n(1)=1$, and then reflecting in the disk givesHere $P_2(t)=(3t^2-1)/2$ is a Legendre polynomial. The quadratic term is $A(z^2-{\rho }^2/2)/(2a)$. The linear term is $-Az$ above and $+Az$ below; it represents the discontinuity of the normal electric field. A single regular spherical expansion across the entire charged sheet would incorrectly remove that jump.

Apply the symmetric gradient and curl decomposition separately to the electric field and the magnetic field:The corresponding axial parts areThe second equalities use the vacuum Maxwell equations. Their divergence constraints also show that both symmetric gradient tensors are traceless.

Choose an orthonormal basis with $\mathbf{n}={\mathbf{e}}_3$. A half-turn about $\mathbf{n}$ kills all mixed axial-transverse components. Commutation with a quarter-turn makes the transverse block a scalar identity matrix plus an antisymmetric matrix. The resulting oriented-axis invariant Cartesian tensor, in coordinate-free form, iswith real constants $a,d,h$. The Kronecker delta, the outer product $n_i{n}_j$, and the displayed Levi-Civita symbol contraction are invariant under every proper rotation about $\mathbf{n}$, so this form is also sufficient. In the chosen basis,The antisymmetric part must be retained unless further symmetry is imposed.

Decompose the electric field as $\mathbf{E}={\mathbf{E}}_{\perp }+{\mathbf{E}}_{\parallel }$, where ${\mathbf{E}}_{\parallel }=(\mathbf{n}\cdot \mathbf{E})\mathbf{n}$. The electric current density isFor a nonzero real electric field, the alignment of current and field in an axisymmetric conductor gives the complete classification of collinearity:

For completeness, if ${\mathbf{E}}_{\perp }\ne 0$ and $\mathbf{J}=\lambda \mathbf{E}$, taking the dot product with $\mathbf{n}\times {\mathbf{E}}_{\perp }$ forces $h=0$. The transverse equation then gives $\lambda =a$, while a nonzero axial component gives $\lambda =d$. This proves there are no missing directions. Zero current is included as the zero scalar multiple; if “parallel” requires a direction for $\mathbf{J}$, exclude cases where that scalar is zero. For a strictly anisotropic crystal the last possibility is absent.

An axial electric field produces $\mathbf{J}=d\mathbf{E}$, so the observation sets $d=0$ and imposes no restriction on the transverse or antisymmetric parts. ThusA symmetric conductivity tensor would further require $h=0$, but axial rotational invariance alone does not require this.

Since the electric field is irrotational, introduce an electrostatic potential with $\mathbf{E}=-\nabla \phi$. Gauss's law becomes the Poisson equationThe curl equation is automatic because the curl of a gradient vanishes. Independence of $z$ makes $E_z$ constant, and its required decay forces it to be zero, so a $z$-independent potential suffices.

For the rotationally invariant free-space fundamental solution of the Laplace equation, put $s=\sqrt{(x-x^{\prime }{)}^2+(y-y^{\prime }{)}^2}$. Away from the source, the radial Laplacian gives $(s{G}^{\prime }{)}^{\prime }=0$, hence $G=A\log s^2+C$. Integrate its Poisson equation over a disk of radius $r$ about the source. The divergence theorem gives $2\pi r(2A/r)=-1/{ϵ}_0$, soA fixed reference length can be inserted inside the logarithm and absorbed into $C$. The resulting electric field decays like $1/s$.

Strictly, the stated pointwise decay as $y\to \pm \infty$ alone does not justify “most general”: one can also add the harmonic function $\mathrm{Re}{e}^{(x+iy{)}^2}$, whose gradient has that decay for every fixed $x$. This is the same growth issue as a zero-boundary harmonic function with pointwise vertical decay. The displayed answer is the usual isotropic free-space choice; requiring the field to vanish uniformly in every direction at spatial infinity removes these extra harmonic additions. An additive constant remains undetermined.

Use the Green-function representation to integrate over the charged segment:For $y\ne 0$, a primitive with respect to $u$ isas direct differentiation verifies using the derivative of inverse tangent. ThereforeThis expression is even in $y$, since $y\arctan (u/y)$ is even. On $y=0$, take the continuous limit $F(u,0)=u\log u^2-2u$, with $u\log u^2=0$ at $u=0$. The finite segment has a logarithmically growing potential at large distance, but its electric field decays; the boundary condition constrains the field rather than the potential.

Differentiate the Green-function representation, valid away from the charged sheet:For $0<x<L$, the two inverse tangent limits at $y\downarrow 0$ are $\pi /2$ and $-\pi /2$; approaching from below reverses both signs. ThusThis agrees with the normal electric field jump obtained by applying Gauss's law to a thin pillbox enclosing unit surface charge density.