Gaussian pillbox 2026-09-29
A Gaussian pillbox is a thin cylindrical Gaussian surface crossing an interface. Shrinking its height converts a divergence law into a jump condition for the field's normal component.
By cylindrical symmetry the electric field of an infinite line charge is radial, independent of and angle. Use a coaxial cylindrical Gaussian surface of radius and length . The end caps have zero flux, so Gauss's law gives . Hence the field and electrostatic potential are
Here is an arbitrary reference length, and . One cannot choose zero electrostatic potential at infinity for a single infinite line charge, because its logarithmic potential diverges there; the arbitrary reference handles the additive constant.