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BiotSavart law
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The BiotSavart law ( /bi o sv r

/or /
bj
o sv r
/
)[1] is an equation in electromagnetism that
describes the magnetic field B generated by an electric current. The vector field B depends on the
magnitude, direction, length, and proximity of the electric current, and also on a fundamental
constant called the magnetic constant. The law is valid in the magnetostatic approximation, and
results in a B field consistent with both Ampre's circuital law and Gauss's law for magnetism.[2]

Electromagnetism

Electricity Magnetism

Contents
1 Introduction
2 Forms
2.1 General
2.2 Constant uniform current
2.3 Point charge at constant velocity
3 Magnetic responses applications
4 Aerodynamics applications
5 The BiotSavart law, Ampre's circuital law, and Gauss's law for magnetism
6 See also
6.1 People
6.2 Electromagnetism
7 Notes
8 References
9 External links

Introduction

Electrostatics
Electric charge Coulomb's law Electric field
Electric flux Gauss's law
Electric potential energy Electric potential
Electrostatic induction
Electric dipole moment Polarization density
Magnetostatics
Ampre's law Electric current
Magnetic field Magnetization Magnetic flux
BiotSavart law Magnetic dipole moment
Gauss's law for magnetism
Electrodynamics
Lorentz force law emf
Electromagnetic induction Faradays law
Lenz's law Displacement current
Maxwell's equations EM field
Electromagnetic radiation
LinardWiechert potential Maxwell tensor
Eddy current

The BiotSavart law is used to compute the magnetic field generated by a steady current, i.e. a
continual flow of charges, for example through a wire, which is constant in time and in which
charge is neither building up nor depleting at any point. The equation in SI units is

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Electrical Network
Electrical conduction Electrical resistance
Capacitance Inductance Impedance
Resonant cavities Waveguides

or, equivalently,

Covariant formulation
Electromagnetic tensor
EM Stress-energy tensor Four-current
Electromagnetic four-potential

where

Scientists
I is the current,
Ampre Coulomb Faraday Gauss
dl is a vector, whose magnitude is the length of the differential element of the wire, and whose
direction is the direction of conventional current,
Heaviside Henry Hertz Lorentz Maxwell
B is the net magnetic field,
Tesla Volta Weber rsted
0 is the magnetic constant,
is the displacement unit vector in the direction pointing from the wire element towards the
point at which the field is being computed, and
is the full displacement vector from the wire element to the point at which the field is being computed.

The symbols in boldface denote vector quantities.

To apply the equation, you choose a point in space at which you want to compute the magnetic field. Holding that point fixed, you integrate over
the path of the current(s) to find the total magnetic field at that point. The application of this law implicitly relies on the superposition principle
for magnetic fields, i.e. the fact that the magnetic field is a vector sum of the field created by each infinitesimal section of the wire individually.[3]
The formulations given above work well when the current can be approximated as running through an infinitely-narrow wire. If the current has
some thickness, the proper formulation of the BiotSavart law (again in SI units) is:
or (equivalently),
where dV is the differential element of volume and J is the current density vector in that volume.
The BiotSavart law is fundamental to magnetostatics, playing a similar role to Coulomb's law in electrostatics. When magnetostatics does not
apply, the BiotSavart law should be replaced by Jefimenko's equations.

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Forms
General
In the magnetostatic approximation, the magnetic field can be determined if the current density J is known:

where:
is the differential element of volume.
is the magnetic constant

Constant uniform current

In the special case of a constant, uniform current I, the magnetic field B is

Point charge at constant velocity

In the case of a charged point particle q moving at a constant velocity v, then Maxwell's equations give the following expression for the electric
field and magnetic field:[4]

where is the vector pointing from the current (non-retarded) position of the particle to the point at which the field is being measured, and is
the angle between and .

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When

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BiotSavart_law

, the electric field and magnetic field can be approximated as[4]

These equations are called the "BiotSavart law for a point charge"[5] due to its closely analogous form to the "standard" BiotSavart law given
previously. These equations were first derived by Oliver Heaviside in 1888.

Magnetic responses applications

The BiotSavart law can be used in the calculation of magnetic responses even at the atomic or molecular level, e.g. chemical shieldings or
magnetic susceptibilities, provided that the current density can be obtained from a quantum mechanical calculation or theory.

Aerodynamics applications
The BiotSavart law is also used in aerodynamic theory to calculate the velocity induced by vortex lines.
In the aerodynamic application, the roles of vorticity and current are reversed as when compared to the
magnetic application.
In Maxwell's 1861 paper 'On Physical Lines of Force (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons
/b/b8/On_Physical_Lines_of_Force.pdf) ', magnetic field strength H was directly equated with pure vorticity
(spin), whereas B was a weighted vorticity that was weighted for the density of the vortex sea. Maxwell
considered magnetic permeability to be a measure of the density of the vortex sea. Hence the relationship,
(1) Magnetic induction current

The figure shows the velocity

(dV) induced at a point P by an
element of vortex filament (dL)
of strength .

was essentially a rotational analogy to the linear electric current relationship,

(2) Electric convection current

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where is electric charge density. B was seen as a kind of magnetic current of vortices aligned in their axial planes, with H being the
circumferential velocity of the vortices.
The electric current equation can be viewed as a convective current of electric charge that involves linear motion. By analogy, the magnetic
equation is an inductive current involving spin. There is no linear motion in the inductive current along the direction of the B vector. The
magnetic inductive current represents lines of force. In particular, it represents lines of inverse square law force.
In aerodynamics the induced air currents are forming solenoidal rings around a vortex axis that is playing the role that electric current plays in
magnetism. This puts the air currents of aerodynamics into the equivalent role of the magnetic induction vector B in electromagnetism.
In electromagnetism the B lines form solenoidal rings around the source electric current, whereas in aerodynamics, the air currents form
solenoidal rings around the source vortex axis.
Hence in electromagnetism, the vortex plays the role of 'effect' whereas in aerodynamics, the vortex plays the role of 'cause'. Yet when we look
at the B lines in isolation, we see exactly the aerodynamic scenario in so much as that B is the vortex axis and H is the circumferential velocity
as in Maxwell's 1861 paper.
For a vortex line of infinite length, the induced velocity at a point is given by

where
is the strength of the vortex
is the perpendicular distance between the point and the vortex line.
This is a limiting case of the formula for vortex segments of finite length:

where A and B are the (signed) angles between the line and the two ends of the segment.

The BiotSavart law, Ampre's circuital law, and Gauss's law for magnetism

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Here is a demonstration that the magnetic field B as computed from the BiotSavart law will always satisfy Ampre's circuital law and Gauss's
law for magnetism.[6] Click "show" in the box below for an outline of the proof.
Outline of proof that a magnetic field calculated by the BiotSavart law will always satisfy Gauss's law
for magnetism and Ampre's law.[6]
Starting with the BiotSavart law:

Plugging in the easily-derived relation

and using the product rule for curls, as well as the fact that J does not depend on the unprimed coordinates,
this equation can be rewritten as[6]

Since the divergence of a curl is always zero, this establishes Gauss's law for magnetism. Next, taking the curl
of both sides, using the formula for the curl of a curl (see the article Curl (mathematics)), and again using the
fact that J does not depend on the unprimed coordinates, we eventually get the result[6]

Finally, plugging in the relations[6]

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(where is the Dirac delta function), using the fact that the divergence of J is zero (due to the assumption of
magnetostatics), and performing an integration by parts, the result turns out to be[6]

i.e. Ampre's law.

See also
People
Jean-Baptiste Biot
Flix Savart
Andr-Marie Ampre
James Clerk Maxwell

Electromagnetism
Maxwell's equations
Ampre's law
Magnetism
Coulomb's law
Darwin Lagrangian

Notes
1. ^ [1] (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/biot+savart+law?qsrc=2446)
2. ^ Jackson, John David (1999). Classical Electrodynamics (3rd ed. ed.). New York: Wiley. Chapter 5. ISBN 0-471-30932-X.
3. ^ The superposition principle holds for the electric and magnetic fields because they are the solution to a set of linear differential equations, namely
Maxwell's equations, where the current is one of the "source terms".
4. ^ a b Griffiths, David J. (1998). Introduction to Electrodynamics (3rd ed.). Prentice Hall. pp. 222224, 435440. ISBN 0-13-805326-X.
5. ^ http://maxwell.ucdavis.edu/~electro/magnetic_field/pointcharge.html
6. ^ a b c d e f See Jackson, page 17879 or Griffiths p. 22224. The presentation in Griffiths is particularly thorough, with all the details spelled out.

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References
Griffiths, David J. (1998). Introduction to Electrodynamics (3rd ed. ed.). Prentice Hall. ISBN 0-13-805326-X.
Feynman, Richard (1966). The Feynman Lectures on Physics (2nd ed. ed.). Addison-Wesley. ISBN 0-63-20717.

External links
Electromagnetism (http://www.lightandmatter.com/html_books/0sn/ch11/ch11.html) , B. Crowell, Fullerton College
MISN-0-125 The AmpreLaplaceBiotSavart Law (http://physnet2.pa.msu.edu/home/modules/pdf_modules/m125.pdf) by Orilla
McHarris and Peter Signell for Project PHYSNET (http://www.physnet.org) .
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