Physical interpretation

Formulation by Maxwell in terms of Fields

Beginning in the 1850s, Maxwell started work on the qualitative ideas about lines of force of
Faraday and produced a completely different account of electrodynamics, based on the concept
of continuous fields. He showed that the inverse-square force laws of Michell and Coulomb can
equally well be expressed in terms of fields. In integral form, the flux of the electric field over
any closed surface equals the charge enclosed within that surface. In differential form the same
field law can be expressed by stating that the divergence of the field at any point equals the
charge density at that point. Hence at any point free of charge, the divergence of the field is zero.
(Incidentally, the fact that magnetic charges, i.e. mono-poles are absent, leads to the conclusion
that the divergence of the magnetic field vanishes everywhere). Maxwell also expressed the
dynamical relations of Ampere and Faraday in terms of fields associated with moving magnets
and electric charges. The equations he derived were later converted to a set of four partial
differential equations called as Maxwells equations. All the information encoded in these four
equations had been derived directly from experimental observations and the laws of Michell,
Coulomb, Ampere, Faraday etc. Maxwell had only corrected the Amperes law by adding the
displacement current term. The rest of the equations were discovered by his predecessors. Still,
all four of them are referred to as Maxwells equations. The reason is that Maxwell was the first
one to realize that these four equations were all there is to Electromagnetic fields (i.e., the theory
was complete). Maxwells equations, along with the Lorentz force equation, define
Electrodynamics completely.
Maxwell attempted to present formulation of electrodynamics in such a way that it did not rely
on the concept of action at a distance. Similar to M. Faraday he regarded that the fields of force
have consecutive parts and that the force is communicated from one part to adjacent parts over
time. In other words, his main emphasis was on the idea of local action and not on the material
mechanism for this action. He was of the opinion that a material mechanism would certainly
satisfy local action, but that local action need not imply a material mechanism.
Einstein said: "Since Maxwell's time, physical reality has been thought of as represented by
continuous fields, and not capable of any mechanical interpretation. This change in the
conception of reality is the most profound and the most fruitful that physics has experienced
since the time of Newton"
Analogy and Differences in Electric and Magnetic Fields
The additional term (Displacement current) Maxwell added to the right hand side of the equation
for Ampere's law is analogous to that on the right hand side of Faraday's law. In Faraday's law
that term is the derivative of the magnetic flux, while Maxwell's new term in Ampere's law
equation has the derivative of the electric flux. Physically this term means that a changing
electric field can create a magnetic field. Thus Maxwells equations (Amperes law and
Faradays law) contain some analogus quantities in electric and magnetic fields.
There are in fact two origins for the magnetic field:
(1) the current density j, as Ampre had already established, and (2) due to called as the
Displacement current.

Though Maxwell added the electric current term in Ampere's law but he did not add a magnetic
current term in Faraday's law. Here the analogy does not exist. All magnetic fields are created by
some type of changing electric field because free magnetic monopoles do not exist and without
magnetic monopoles there can be no magnetic current. Thus one of the important consequence of
Faradays law- that All magnetic poles occur in pairs (i.e. dipoles)- was emphasized by Maxwell
also.
The Concept of Electromagnetic Fields
The electromagnetic wave equation which evolved from Maxwells equations predicted that the
electromagnetic radiation could propagate indefinitely through space, far away from their origin.
Speed of Light
Maxwell discovered that electromagnetic waves propagate at the speed of light. The speed in
vacuum is independent both of the motion of the light source and of the inertial frame of
reference of the observer. Thus he discovered a fundamental constant of nature: the speed of
light.
Similarity in the Field Equations of Electromagnetism and Relativity
Maxwell augmented the Amperes law equation by the term or called as the
displacement current. It is interesting to note that the process by which Maxwell found the final
form of electromagnetic field equations is very much similar to the process by which Einstein
arrived at the final field equations of general relativity. In both cases, the extra term was added in
order to give a divergenceless field.