Re: right hand rule

From: Kevin Aylward (salesEXTRACT_at_anasoft.co.uk)
Date: 12/23/04 

Date: Thu, 23 Dec 2004 15:59:40 GMT

Phil Hobbs wrote:
> Jamie Morken wrote:
>
>> Hi,
>>
>> I was just wondering why the direction of the magnetic field around a
>> current carrying wire follows the right hand rule, and not a left
>> hand rule? It seems a bit unsymmetrical for one direction to be
>> favoured over the other? Any explanation for this? I would have
>> thought that current in a straight wire would induce a symetrical
>> magnetic field. cheers,
>> Jamie
>
> Current density has a direction, so the resulting magnetic field has
> the same symmetry as the current that produces it.
>
> Maxwell's equations are completely symmetrical between E and H (though
> units often differ, leading to numerical factors in the field
> strengths). The difference in field behaviour is entirely due to the
> existence of electric charges and nonexistence of magnetic charges
> (monopoles).
>
> If magnetic monopoles existed, a steady current of magnetic monopoles
> would produce an E field looping round the current, just like the H
> field due to a steady electric current.
>
> The mystery is why there are no magnetic monopoles

I don't personally see this as a mystery. Why should there be two
methods associated with E&M? Magnetic fields are simply electric fields
viewed from another reference frame. Electric fields are just the
manifestation of photon momentum exchange between charges. So, why
should there be magnetic monopoles?

>--and the really
> deep mystery is why there is matter at all, and why it is the way it
> is.

Again I don't see this as a deep mystery either. We only describe
something in terms of other somethings. This inherently means that we
*have* to accept some entities as axioms, irreducible from anything
else. If not, we only have circular arguments, whose properties mandate
that such arguments can be used to prove/explain *anything*. That is any
argument one uses to account for an entity, must necessarily use other
entities. A mystery can hardly be said to exist if logic demands such
"mysteries" *must* always exist. Godel tells us that there will,
essentially, always be true results not derivable from existing
knowledge. we have to start somewhere. That somewhere is that
mass-energy exists. Mass-energy cannot be explained without introducing
yet another unknown. If it were known, it would be mass-energy.

Kevin Aylward
salesEXTRACT@anasoft.co.uk
http://www.anasoft.co.uk
SuperSpice, a very affordable Mixed-Mode
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