Past exam of the physics B course of the University of Cambridge / 2022 / Paper 2 / Section B / B7 / c / Solution

Because the magnetic field obeys $\nabla \cdot \mathbf{B}=0$, it can be represented locally as the curl of a magnetic vector potential:This automatically enforces the absence of magnetic monopoles. It is also a global representation throughout ordinary all-space problems without monopole singularities. It is not unique: the gauge transformationleaves $\mathbf{B}$ unchanged because the curl of a gradient vanishes. In a time-dependent problem,makes the same transformation leave both physical fields unchanged and automatically satisfies Faraday's law.

In vacuum magnetostatics, choose the Coulomb gauge $\nabla \cdot \mathbf{A}=0$. Substitution into Ampère's law and the identity $\nabla \times (\nabla \times \mathbf{A})=\nabla (\nabla \cdot \mathbf{A})-{\nabla }^2\mathbf{A}$ givesfor a localized steady electric current density and a potential vanishing at infinity. Taking the curl recovers the Biot-Savart law. The magnetic vector potential converts a constrained vector field problem into componentwise Poisson equations once a gauge is chosen.

For a uniform magnetic field, $\mathbf{A}=\frac{1}{2}\mathbf{B}\times \mathbf{r}$ is a convenient choice. For a localized magnetic dipole moment $\mathbf{m}$, the leading far-field potential isAnother useful relation is Stokes theorem, which relates a closed-path integral to the magnetic flux through a spanning surface:The units of $\mathbf{A}$ are $\mathrm{T}\mathrm{m}$, equivalently $\mathrm{Wb}{\mathrm{m}}^{-1}$.