Electromagnetic momenta for wave-particle systems in vacuum waveguides: Universality of the Abraham-Minkowski dilemma beyond dielectric materials

Whenever light is slowed down, for any cause, two different formulas give its momentum. The coexistence of those momenta was the heart of the century-old Abraham-Minkowski dilemma, recently resolved for dielectrics. We demonstrate that this framework extends to momentum exchange in wave-particle int...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The European physical journal. D, Atomic, molecular, and optical physics Atomic, molecular, and optical physics, 2020-05, Vol.74 (5), Article 103
Main Authors: Minenna, Damien F. G., Elskens, Yves, Doveil, Fabrice, André, Frédéric
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Applications of Nonlinear Dynamics and Chaos Theory
Atomic
Electromagnetism
Engineering Sciences
Molecular
Optical and Plasma Physics
Optics
Photonic
Physical Chemistry
Physics
Physics and Astronomy
Plasma Physics
Quantum Information Technology
Quantum Physics
Regular Article
Spectroscopy/Spectrometry
Spintronics
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Summary:Whenever light is slowed down, for any cause, two different formulas give its momentum. The coexistence of those momenta was the heart of the century-old Abraham-Minkowski dilemma, recently resolved for dielectrics. We demonstrate that this framework extends to momentum exchange in wave-particle interaction; in particular to vacuum waveguides of electron tubes (dispersive metallic slow-wave structures). In waveguides, the dilemma can be easily investigated since energy and force are well established through the use of Maxwell equations in vacuum, and since waveguides can have a strong refractive index. Our theory is assessed with simulations validated against measurements from a traveling-wave tube. In addition, we show that the dilemma resolution is not limited to discriminating between kinematic and canonical momenta but also involves a non-negligible flowing momentum from Maxwell’s electromagnetic stress. The existence of two momenta for diverse systems like materials, plasmas and waveguides, for which light velocity modification has entirely different origin, points to the universality of the Abraham-Minkowski dilemma. Graphical abstract
ISSN:1434-6060
1434-6079
DOI:10.1140/epjd/e2020-100640-6