Resolution of the Abraham-Minkowski dilemma

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Barnett, S.M. (2010) Resolution of the Abraham-Minkowski dilemma. Physical Review Letters, 104 (7). 070401. ISSN 1079-7114 (https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.104.070401)

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Abstract

The dilemma of identifying the correct form for the momentum of light in a medium has run for a century and has been informed by many distinguished contributions, both theoretical and experimental. We show that both the Abraham and Minkowski forms of the momentum density are correct, with the former being the kinetic momentum and the latter the canonical momentum. This identification allows us to explain why the experiments supporting each of the rival momenta gave the results that they did. The inclusion of dispersion and absorption provides an interesting subtlety, but does not change our conclusion.

  • Item type:Article
    ID code:26871
    Dates:
    Date
    Event
    17 February 2010
    Published
    Subjects:Science > Physics
    Department:Faculty of Science > Physics
    Depositing user:Users 1261 not found.
    Date deposited:19 Aug 2010 15:03
    Last modified:14 Dec 2024 11:29
    Related URLs:
    URI:https://strathprints.strath.ac.uk/id/eprint/26871
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