The pedagogical value of the four-dimensional picture II: Another way of looking at the electromagnetic field

TL;DR

This paper explores the electromagnetic field through a four-dimensional perspective, showing that Maxwell's equations are fundamentally linked to spacetime properties and proposing a geometric interpretation of electromagnetic phenomena.

Contribution

It offers a novel geometric interpretation of electromagnetic fields, deriving Maxwell's equations from spacetime properties with minimal additional assumptions.

Findings

Maxwell's equations are closely related to four-dimensional spacetime

The four-force concept simplifies electromagnetic formulation

Spacetime properties underpin electromagnetic phenomena

Abstract

The concept of electromagnetic field can be neatly formulated by recognizing that the simplest form of the four-force is indeed feasible. We show that Maxwell's equations almost entirely stem from the properties of spacetime, notably from the fact that our world has dimension d = 4. Their complete reconstruction requires three additional assumptions which are seemingly divorced from geometry, but, actually, may have much to do with the spacetime properties.