Microscopic Basis of Macroscopic Magnetostatic Energy

Abstract

A microscopic description of the electromagnetic interactions among a set of charged particles, valid to terms of order c^—2, is used to derive a number of well‐known expressions for macroscopic electrostatic and magnetostatic ``energy'' and ``work.'' Particular attention is paid to the assumptions required for the validity of these expressions, and to the relations between the various nonequivalent expressions bearing the same name (such as ``magnetic work'').