Poynting theorem (${\partial }_{t}u+\nabla \cdot \mathbf{S}=-\mathbf{J}\cdot \mathbf{E}$)

The Poynting theorem is the local energy balance of classical electromagnetism. For vacuum field laws, with current density $\mathbf{J}$, the electromagnetic energy per unit volume isandThus a decrease in local electromagnetic energy can supply outward energy flux or work on electric charge. The term $\mathbf{J}\cdot \mathbf{E}$ is power transferred to matter per unit volume. Its sign matters: positive values remove field energy, while negative values describe matter supplying the field. The magnetic part of the Lorentz force supplies no work term.

For a fixed volume $V$, the divergence theorem gives the directly measurable balanceFor example, $2.0\mathrm{W}$ entering a region with $0.50\mathrm{W}$ leaving and $1.20\mathrm{W}$ transferred to matter means stored electromagnetic energy increases at $0.30\mathrm{W}$. In source-free vacuum only the boundary flux changes the stored energy; a nonzero local Poynting vector can still have zero net closed-surface flux.

A brief proof takes the dot product of the Ampère-Maxwell equation with $\mathbf{E}/{\mu }_0$ and uses Faraday's law with $\mathbf{B}/{\mu }_0$. The identity $\nabla \cdot (\mathbf{E}\times \mathbf{B})=\mathbf{B}\cdot (\nabla \times \mathbf{E})-\mathbf{E}\cdot (\nabla \times \mathbf{B})$ turns the remaining terms into the divergence of the Poynting vector. ^[ref].

For a good conductor with surface electric-field peak amplitude $E_0$, the surface impedance of a good conductor gives the displayed time-averaged Poynting vector component into the conductor. The factor one half in $⟨\mathbf{S}⟩=\mathrm{Re}(\mathbf{E}\times {\mathbf{H}}^{\ast })/2$ is required for peak phasors. Its loss with depth obeys $-d⟨S_z⟩/dz=\sigma E_0^2{e}^{-2z/\delta }/2=⟨\mathbf{j}\cdot \mathbf{E}⟩$. Electromagnetic energy becomes Joule heating locally; averaged field-energy storage has zero time derivative.

For circular plates of radius $a$, separation $d\ll a$, and a thin axial resistor $R$, the quasistatic capacitance is $C={\epsilon }_0\pi a^2/d$. During discharge, $I=V/R=-C\dot{V}$. A circular Ampere-Maxwell law contour between the plates encloses wire current $I$ and opposing displacement current $-I{r}^2/a^2$, giving $H=I(1-r^2/a^2)/(2\pi r)$. The electric field has magnitude $V/d$, so the Poynting vector points radially inward with magnitude $V^2(1-r^2/a^2)/(2\pi rdR)$. Its flux through the cylindrical side is the displayed inward power. The field inside that cylinder releases $V^2{r}^2/(R{a}^2)$ per unit time; adding the incoming flux gives the resistor's full Joule heating rate $V^2/R$. End fringing, wire radius and magnetic-energy corrections are neglected.

For a real linearly polarized monochromatic vacuum plane wave, the local Poynting vector is proportional to ${\cos }^2(\mathbf{k}\cdot \mathbf{r}-\omega t)\hat{\mathbf{k}}$. Its flux through a closed surface generally oscillates at $2\omega$, with zero cycle average, although particular volume geometries can cancel it identically. For a circularly polarized plane wave of constant amplitude the Poynting vector is spatially and temporally constant, so the net flux through every closed surface is exactly zero. A nonzero constant local energy flux must not be confused with the net closed-surface flux.

In vacuum the electromagnetic energy density isand the field energy in a region is $U_{\mathrm{EM}}=\int udV$.

In a linear isotropic nondispersive medium with time-independent permittivity $ϵ$ and magnetic permeability $\mu$, the stored electromagnetic energy per volume is $u=ϵ|\mathbf{E}{|}^2/2+|\mathbf{B}{|}^2/(2\mu )$. For a short derivation, the Maxwell equations in matter and the divergence identity for a cross product give $\nabla \cdot (\mathbf{E}\times \mathbf{H})=-\mathbf{H}\cdot {\partial }_t\mathbf{B}-\mathbf{E}\cdot {\partial }_t\mathbf{D}-{\mathbf{J}}_f\cdot \mathbf{E}$. The constitutive relations turn the first two terms into $-{\partial }_{t}u$, proving the Poynting theorem. Choose $u=0$ when the electric field and magnetic field both vanish. Dispersive or time-dependent material response requires a different accounting of stored energy.

In vacuum-permeability magnetohydrodynamics, the magnetic energy in a volume is $E_B=\int B^2/(2{\mu }_0)dV$. Its volume density equals the magnetic pressure.

For reversible quasistatic magnetic circuits with flux linkages ${\lambda }_i$, currents $I_i$ and mechanical coordinate $q$, write $d{W}_B={\sum }_i{I}_{i}d{\lambda }_i-F_{q}dq$. The Legendre transform $W_B^{\prime }={\sum }_i{I}_i{\lambda }_i-W_B$ obeys $d{W}_B^{\prime }={\sum }_i{\lambda }_{i}d{I}_i+F_{q}dq$. Thus $F_q=(\partial W_B^{\prime }/\partial q{)}_{I_i}$, while $F_q=-(\partial W_B/\partial q{)}_{{\lambda }_i}$. In a linear reciprocal system $W_B^{\prime }=W_B=\frac{1}{2}{\mathbf{I}}^{\mathsf{T}}L(q)\mathbf{I}$ numerically, but the variables held fixed in their force derivatives differ. The coenergy formulation includes the effect of electrical sources maintaining the currents; it avoids reversing the sign of the magnetic force by differentiating stored energy under the wrong constraint.

The shell-integrated magnetic energy spectrum distributes magnetic energy over wavenumbers. With a solenoidal isotropic spectral tensor normalized to ${\hat{C}}_{ii}=2H(k)$ and the inverse Fourier transform measure $d^{3}k/(2\pi {)}^3$, one has $\mathbb{E}|\mathbf{B}{|}^2={\pi }^{-2}\int k^{2}H(k)dk$. In Gaussian units, $E_B(k)=k^{2}H(k)/(8{\pi }^3)$ integrates to the energy density $\mathbb{E}|\mathbf{B}{|}^2/(8\pi )$. A spectrum per unit mass or normalized to $B^2/2$ has different constant factors. Scale-local fluctuation estimates give $\delta B_l^2$ proportional to $k{E}_B(k)$ at $k\sim l^{-1}$ when the spectrum is normalized consistently.

For a single traveling vacuum plane electromagnetic wave, $\mathbf{B}=\hat{\mathbf{k}}\times \mathbf{E}/c$ gives equal electric and magnetic contributions to electromagnetic energy:For the fields with linear polarization along $x$ and magnetic orientation along $y$ specified above,Angle brackets mean an average over one period at fixed position. The factor $1/2$ comes from averaging squared cosine; $E_0$ is the peak amplitude, whereas the root mean square field is $E_{\mathrm{rms}}=E_0/\sqrt{2}$. The equal energy contributions oscillate together, rather than trading energy as in an RLC circuit. ^[ref].

For $E_0=100V/m$, using $c=299792458m/s$ and ${ϵ}_0\simeq 8.854\times 10^{-12}F/m$,A $0.010{\mathrm{m}}^2$ surface normal to $+z$ therefore has average crossing power $0.133\mathrm{W}$. This is incident power; the amount absorbed depends on the surface. Doubling the field amplitude quadruples the average flux.

For symmetric time-independent constitutive tensors,and the macroscopic Maxwell equations give ${\partial }_{t}u+\nabla \cdot S=-E\cdot J$.