On the Apparent Non-Uniqueness of the Electromagnetic Field Components of Return Strokes Revisited

Abstract

Recent research work shows that there are four procedures that can be used to calculate the electromagnetic fields from a current source. These different procedures, even though producing the same total field, give rise to field components that differ from one procedure to another. This has led to the understanding that the various field terms that constitute the total field cannot be uniquely determined. In this paper, it is shown that all four field expressions can be reduced to a single field expression, and the various field terms arising from acceleration, uniformly moving, and stationary charges can be uniquely determined. The differences in the field terms arising from different techniques are caused by the different ways of summing up the contribution to the total electric field coming from the accelerating, moving, and stationary charges.