Classical Models of the Electron Spin -- Comparison of the Electric Current Model and the Magnetic Charge Model

TL;DR

This paper compares two classical models of electron spin, highlighting the limitations of the electric current model and advocating for the magnetic charge model as a more consistent and complete classical representation.

Contribution

It demonstrates fundamental problems with the electric current model and advocates for the magnetic charge model as a superior classical approach to electron spin.

Findings

Electric current model depends on external forces and violates energy conservation.

Magnetic charge model requires extended Maxwell equations with magnetic sources.

Magnetic charge model is a closed, energy-conserving classical system.

Abstract

Ferromagnetic matter finds its microscopic origin in the intrinsic electron spin, which is considered to be a purely quantum mechanical property of the electron. To incorporate the influence of the electron spin in the microscopic and macroscopic Maxwell equations -- and thereby in classical physics -- two models have been utilized: the electric current and the magnetic charge model. This paper aims to highlight fundamental problems of the commonly used current loop model, widely employed in textbooks. This work demonstrates that the behavior of a constant electric current dipole is not described by the laws of classical electrodynamics. More precisely, the electric current model is dependent on external forces, not included in Maxwells field and force equations, in order to maintain the force balance on the electric charge density inside the electron. These external forces change dynamically and do work on the system as the electron interacts with external fields. Consequently, the energies derived from classical physics (gravitational potential energy, kinetic energy, electrodynamic field energy) are not conserved in a system including constant electric current dipoles. In contrast to the electric current model, the magnetic charge model employs separate magnetic charges to model the electron spin, requiring the Maxwell equations to be extended by magnetic sources. This paper intends to illustrate that the magnetic charge model has significant advantages over the electric current model as it needs no external forces and energies, is a closed electromechanical system and is fully modeled by the classical laws of physics. This work forms the basis for the derivation and consideration of equivalent problems in macroscopic systems involving ferromagnetic matter.