Version 1
: Received: 21 February 2022 / Approved: 23 February 2022 / Online: 23 February 2022 (12:58:14 CET)
How to cite:
Singal, A. Bending of Electric Field Lines and Photon Trajectories in a Static Gravitational Field. Preprints2022, 2022020293. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202202.0293.v1
Singal, A. Bending of Electric Field Lines and Photon Trajectories in a Static Gravitational Field. Preprints 2022, 2022020293. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202202.0293.v1
Singal, A. Bending of Electric Field Lines and Photon Trajectories in a Static Gravitational Field. Preprints2022, 2022020293. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202202.0293.v1
APA Style
Singal, A. (2022). Bending of Electric Field Lines and Photon Trajectories in a Static Gravitational Field. Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202202.0293.v1
Chicago/Turabian Style
Singal, A. 2022 "Bending of Electric Field Lines and Photon Trajectories in a Static Gravitational Field" Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202202.0293.v1
Abstract
It is well known that the photon trajectories follow a curved path in a gravitational field. We explore here the gravitational bending of electric field lines. It seems that the electric field lines of a charge, supported in a gravitational field, follow exactly the trajectories of photons emitted isotropically from a source situated at the charge location. From a detailed examination of the electrostatic field of a charge accelerated uniformly in the instantaneous rest frame, exploiting the strong principle of equivalence, one can determine the bending of the electric field lines of a charge in a gravitational field.The fraction of electric field lines crossing a surface, stationary above or below the charge in the gravitational field, is shown to be exactly similar to the fraction of photon trajectories, emitted from a source placed at the charge location, intersecting that surface. On the other hand, for a freely falling charge in the gravitational field there is no such bending of electric field lines. The field lines continue to extend in radial straight lines from the instantaneous 'present' position of the charge, as do the trajectories of photons streaming away from the instantaneous position of a freely falling source in the gravitational field. The electric field configuration of a freely falling charge in the gravitational field is shown to be exactly the same as that of a charge moving uniformly in an inertial frame with velocity equal to the instantaneous ``present'' velocity of the freely falling charge.
Keywords
Special relativity; General relativity; Electromagnetism; Bending of electric field lines in a gravitational field; Electric field lines of a freely falling charge; Bending of photon trajectories in a gravitational field
Subject
Physical Sciences, Theoretical Physics
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
