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Presenter: Dr. Kenneth Chau
Supervisor: CAMTEC and SPIE Student Chapter University of Victoria

Date: Mon, July 20, 2015
Time: 14:00:00 - 00:00:00
Place: ECS 660

ABSTRACT

Abstract:

Consensus on a single electrodynamic theory has yet to be reached. Discord was seeded over a century ago when Abraham and Minkowski proposed different forms of electromagnetic momentum density and has since expanded in scope with the gradual introduction of other forms of momentum and force densities. Although degenerate sets of electrodynamic postulates can be fashioned to comply with global energy and momentum conservation, hope remains to isolate a single theory based on detailed comparison between force density predictions and radiation pressure experiments. This comparison is challenging because there are just a handful of quantitative radiation pressure measurements over the past century and the solutions developed from different postulates, which consist of approximate expressions and inferential deductions, are scattered throughout the literature. In this talk, I will discuss my recent work on an electrodynamic/fluid dynamic simulation testbed that uses five historically significant sets of electrodynamic postulates, including those by Abraham and Minkowski, to model radiation pressure under diverse configurations with minimal assumptions. This leads to new interpretations of landmark investigations of light momentum, including the Balazs thought experiment, the Jones-Richards and Jones-Leslie measurements of radiation pressure on submerged mirrors, observations of laser-deformed fluid surfaces, and experiments on optical trapping and tractor beaming of dielectric particles. I will discuss the merits and demerits of each set of postulates when compared to available experimental evidence and fundamental conservation laws. Of the five sets of postulates, the Abraham and Einstein-Laub postulates provide the greatest consistency with observations and the most physically plausible descriptions of electrodynamic interactions. Force density predictions made by these two postulates are unique under many conditions and their experimental isolation is potentially within reach.

Biography:

Dr. Chau is an Associate Professor in the School of Engineering at the University of British Columbia's Okanagan campus in Kelowna, British Columbia. He received his PhD from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Alberta in 2007. From 2008 to 2009, he conducted research in nanoplasmonics at the Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology at the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Gaithersburg, Maryland. His research interests are in electromagnetics, optics, and photonics. Recent work has focused on the exploration of novel optical and opto-mechanical properties made possible by careful material engineering and the resolution of fundamental questions about electromagnetic energy and momentum in matter.

For further information, contact: Reuven Gordon (250-472-5179, rgordon@uvic.ca)