Abstract
THE adoption of four base quantities for the representation of electromagnetic quantities does not imply a formulation of electromagnetism which assigns different dimensions to the two magnetic field vectors, usually symbolized B and H. Systems which do satisfy this condition have been called “Giorgi systems”1. It is assumed that in formulations in which B = μ0H in vacuum, also D = ε0E in vacuum. There are three distinct Giorgi systems which have practical significance. There are also systems of equations, which are not of the Giorgi form, but which are appropriate for use with SI units, namely the SI-Gaussian and SI-Electric1. It is the purpose of this communication to show that the Giorgi condition leads essentially to confusion, and in practice to error.
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References
Stopes-Roe, H. V., Nature, 222, 500 (1969); 223, 546 (1969).
Kennelly, A. E., J. Engineering Education, 27, 290 (1935).
Sommerfeld, A., Lectures on Theoretical Phiysics : III, Electrodynamics (Academic Press, New York, 1952).
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Bleaney, B. I., and Bleaney, B., Electricity and Magnetism (second ed.), vi–vii (Oxford University Press, 1965).
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STOPES-ROE, H. Essential Failure of Giorgi Systems of Electromagnetism, and a Basic Error by Sommerfeld. Nature 224, 579–581 (1969). https://doi.org/10.1038/224579a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/224579a0
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