General Relativity: An Introduction for Physicists · Problem 6.6

Electromagnetism — Hobson, Efstathiou & Lasenby

Physics · lorentz-transformation-fields-parallel-perpendicular

Problem

Show that the transformation equations derived in Exercise 6.5 can be written as E⃗∥′=E⃗∥,E⃗⊥′=γ(E⃗⊥+v⃗×B⃗⊥),\vec{E}'_{\parallel} = \vec{E}_{\parallel}, \qquad \vec{E}'_{\perp} = \gamma(\vec{E}_{\perp} + \vec{v} \times \vec{B}_{\perp}), B⃗∥′=B⃗∥,B⃗⊥′=γ(B⃗⊥−1c2v⃗×E⃗⊥),\vec{B}'_{\parallel} = \vec{B}_{\parallel}, \qquad \vec{B}'_{\perp} = \gamma\left(\vec{B}_{\perp} - \frac{1}{c^2}\vec{v} \times \vec{E}_{\perp}\right), where v⃗=(v,0,0)\vec{v} = (v,0,0), and E⃗∥\vec{E}_{\parallel} and E⃗⊥\vec{E}_{\perp} denote the projections of E⃗\vec{E} parallel and orthogonal to v⃗\vec{v} respectively (and similarly for B⃗\vec{B}). Explain why these equations must hold for a Lorentz boost v⃗\vec{v} in an arbitrary direction with respect to the axes of SS.

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