Paper detail

Non-relativistic limits of Maxwell's equations

In 1973, Le Bellac and Levy-Leblond (Nuovo Cimento B 14, 217-234) discovered that Maxwell&#39;s equations possess two non-relativistic Galilei-covariant limits, corresponding to E >> cB (electric limit) or E << cB (magnetic limit). Here, we provide a systematic, yet simple, derivation of these two limits based on a dimensionless form of Maxwell&#39;s equations and an expansion of the electric and magnetic fields in a power series of some small parameters. Using this procedure, all previously known results are recovered in a natural and unambiguous way. Some further extensions are also proposed.