Specify the Minkowski metric convention , with and . For the electromagnetic four-potential, . The electromagnetic field tensor is
Using and , its two component matrices are
Changing metric/sign conventions changes the component convention, so stating it is necessary. Under a Lorentz transformation, the tensor law is . For the stated Lorentz boost, put and :
Multiplication gives, for example, and . Reading off all entries proves Lorentz transformation of electromagnetic fields:
For the wire, the lab line charge is zero and the current is . At points off the wire, write . Gauss's law and Ampère's law give
The boost leaves unchanged, so the field transformations give
Its physical source is the relativistic charge density of counterstreaming beams. Their boosted number densities are and , by transforming each charge-current four-vector. Thus . A line charge has radial field ; using reproduces the boxed field. Oppositely moving populations contract differently under the boost, so neutrality in one frame does not imply neutrality in the other. The ideal wire's fields are singular on its axis.