Electrodynamics in a Rotating System of Reference

Synopsis The usual definition of electric and magnetic field intensities (E and H) in a noninertial coordinate system is not unique. A system of reference is here newly defined as a continuous, three dimensional distribution of observers, with each of which a frame of reference (orthonormal tetrad) is associated. The fields E and H in such a reference system will always be given by the same physical measurements as determine these quantities in an inertial system, once the effect of inertial (“fictitious”) forces has been subtracted out. A rotating reference system is strictly defined, and it is shown that E and H in this system are related to the corresponding quantities in an inertial system by a special Lorentz transformation with velocity v = o x r, where w is the angular velocity of the rotating system as observed from an inertial system. The field equations in the rotating reference system are given. The angular velocity measured by local experiments by an observer in the rotating system is found to be Q = w( 1 &$/~a)-1.