The massive side of the electromagnetic waves

TL;DR

This paper explores the analogy between stationary electromagnetic waves and massive particles, highlighting shared energy-momentum properties and extending the concept of weight within a Newtonian gravitational framework.

Contribution

It introduces a novel perspective linking electromagnetic wave properties to massive particle characteristics and extends the concept of weight to electromagnetic phenomena in weak gravitational fields.

Findings

Electromagnetic waves exhibit energy-momentum invariants similar to massive particles.

The analogy allows extending the concept of weight to electromagnetic waves in Newtonian gravity.

The work provides a new conceptual framework connecting electromagnetism and mass-related properties.

Abstract

Stationary electromagnetic waves display aspects that are shared with massive particles, since the energy and momentum contained in a volume of sides equal to the wavelengths form a non-zero energy-momentum invariant. The parallel can be extended to the notion of weight when this concept makes sense, that is, in the Newtonian chart of a weak inertial-gravitational field.