Dynamic Electric and Magnetic Field Evolutions with Computer Graphics Display

The introduction of purely static electric and magnetic field structures in a first undergraduate field analysis course often is made without due attention paid to relevance to physical phenomena and engineering systems. It is the dynamic nature of the fields in transient configurations that defines useful modeling concepts and idealizations. An interactive computer graphics system has been implemented at Cargnegie-Mellon University to display dynamic field structures for user-specified parameter combinations in a pair of simple models involving the sudden application of electric and magnetic fields to a spherical boundary between media. The system provides a means for visualizing the transient behavior of field distributions resulting from physical mechanisms associated with abrupt changes in material conductivity, permittivity, and permeability.