Abstract
IN the modification of Maxwell's theory proposed by one of us1, the notion of an absolute field, called b, played an essential part. In the electrostatic case, the universal constant b is simply the upper limit of the field strength, whilst in the general case of an arbitrary field, b sets a limit to the possible values of when and are calculated in that Lorentz frame in which the Poynting vector vanishes in the given world-point. (In the exceptional case when there is no such Lorentz frame, that is, if is perpendicular to and there is no limit.) Born and Infeld2 have calculated b from the experimental values of the charge e and mass m of the electron by equating to mc2 the total energy of that centrally symmetrical electrostatic solution which has the total charge e. By this procedure b works out to be 9.18 × 1015 E.S.U.
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References
M. Born, NATURE, 132, 282; 1933.
M. Born and L. Infeld, Proc. Roy. Soc., A, 144, 426; 1934.
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BORN, M., SCHRöDINGER, E. The Absolute Field Constant in the New Field Theory. Nature 135, 342 (1935). https://doi.org/10.1038/135342a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/135342a0
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