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Monopoles and electrets (was corrupting the youth)



POST SCRIPTUM:

1) Magnetic poles at the ends of a long bar magnet
are the nearest analogies (in my mind) of monopoles.

2) Bound electric charges at the end of a long electret
are related to free charges as magnetic poles are related
to monopoles, except that monopoles, as far as we
know, do not exist.

3) An electret can be made by melting an appropriate
wax in a glass tube and by allowing it to solidify in a
strong electric field parallel to the tube's axis.

4) I have no doubt that a stationary magnetic needle
will detect additional magnetic field when one end of
the electret rod is moved rapidly near it (while another
end is as far away as possible).

5) Likewise, a rapidly moving magnetic pole (the end
of a long bar magnet) will probably create an additional
electric field detectable by a stationary electric dipole
("electric compass" needle.)

Is the above description correct? If it is then does it
make sense to expect moving monopoles to produce
"magnetic currents" surrounded by circular electric
field lines (like in a betatron or in a transformer)?

Ludwik Kowalski wrote:

Bob's expectation is an interesting possibility. But
we have to wait for the discovery of monopoles,
and for experiments revealing their behavior.
I think that speculations on what to expect could
be very useful in a classroom.

Bob Sciamanda wrote:

| . . . If there are magnetic monopoles then there is a complete symmetry
| between electricity and magnetism and you must flip a coin to decide which
| one should be described by a surface and which one should be described by
| lines of force (a vector field).
| . . .From: "Jack Uretsky" <jlu@HEP.ANL.GOV>

I will hazard an answer here:
With magnetic monopoles, E and B would each have a both vector part and a
circulation part.
(No?)