The Radiation Gauge: When is it Valid?

TL;DR

This paper investigates the conditions under which the radiation gauge, which simplifies electromagnetic potential formulations by neglecting the scalar potential, is valid for various problems.

Contribution

It demonstrates that the vector-scalar potential formulation can often be simplified by setting the scalar potential to zero, clarifying the gauge's applicability.

Findings

The scalar potential can be ignored in many cases without loss of accuracy.

Simplification to the radiation gauge is valid under specific conditions.

The paper provides criteria for when the scalar potential contribution can be neglected.

Abstract

In this paper, we shall show that the vector-scalar potential ($\mathbf{A}$-$\Phi$) formulation, for many problems, can be further simplified by ignoring the scalar potential contribution and setting it to zero.