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Isn't divB=0 one of Maxwell's equations? That seems to be "one of our physical theories" claiming the impossibility of magnetic monopoles.
by titanomachy 8y ago
Isn't divB=0 one of Maxwell's equations? That seems to be "one of our physical theories" claiming the impossibility of magnetic monopoles.
- semi-extrinsic 8y agoAh, but this is indeed just us saying "hey, we don't see any monopoles anywhere, so let's simplify the equations to divB=0". The "full" equations have a divB={stuff that's perfectly symmetric to divE RHS}, and also a modified curlE term to make the "full" set of equations completely symmetric for electricity and magnetism. You can see these equations at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetic_monopole https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetic_monopole
- titanomachy 8y agoInteresting! I guess I've never learned much physics more recent than 1904.
- jeffwass 8y agoIt’s perfectly possible to modify Maxwell’s equations to include magnetic monopoles. Doing so makes Maxwell’s equations more symmetric between electric and magnetic fields. The reason we have equation ∇·B=0 is due to empirical observation. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetic_monopole https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetic_monopole