Electromagnetism – Free, Bound, and Total Charge Density Explained

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If in a medium we have:

$\rho(\vec r)_{total} = \rho(\vec r)_{free} + \rho(\vec r)_{bound} $.

Now we know:

$-\nabla\vec P = \rho(\vec r)_{bound}$

$\nabla\vec D = \rho(\vec r)_{free}$.

Since $\vec D=\epsilon_0 \epsilon \vec E$ we can say also that:

$\epsilon_0 \epsilon \nabla\vec E = \rho(\vec r)_{free}$.

If what I wrote is corrent, then what gives us the total charge density. Is there a field whose divergence gives us the total charge density, similarly to how the rotation of the magnetic field gives us the total current density in a material $\nabla \times \vec B = \vec j_{total}$.

Best Answer

If I understand you correctly the corresponding field should be $\epsilon_0 \vec{E}$. This is one of Maxwell's equations. Let me explain a little bit about the different fields because they might be the source of confusion.

An equation you did not mention is the relation between $\epsilon$ and $\vec{P}$. We can write $\epsilon$ via the electric suceptibility: $\epsilon=1+\chi$ where $\chi$ is defined to be a proportionality factor in the following: $\vec{P}=\chi \epsilon_0 \vec{E}$. This is of course an assumption which is not necessarily always true but let us assume it is for now.

If we use that we get $\vec{D}=\epsilon_0 \vec{E}+\vec{P}$. Taking the divergence of that one sees that $\rho_{free}=\epsilon_0\vec{\nabla}\vec{E}-\rho_{bound} $, leading to $\epsilon_0\vec{\nabla}\vec{E}=\rho_{total}$.

The equation $\vec{D}=\epsilon_0 \vec{E}+\vec{P}$ can as far as I know be seen as the definition of $\vec{D}$ and is always true, so what I just did was some kind of backwards argument. Usually $\epsilon_0\vec{\nabla}\vec{E}=\rho_{total}$ is seen as the fundamental equation and the rest gets derived from there.

The thing which is not always true generally is $\vec{D}=\epsilon \epsilon_0 \vec{E}$ (where $\epsilon$ is a constant number). In general $\epsilon$ can be a matrix, i.e. $\vec{D}$ can have a different direction than $\vec{E}$, or it can depend on $\vec{E}$ making the relation between $\vec{D}$ and $\vec{E}$ non-linear. But nonetheless $\vec{D}=\epsilon_0 \vec{E}+\vec{P}$ should always be true and $\epsilon_0\vec{\nabla}\vec{E}=\rho_{total}$ should also always be true as it is one of Maxwell's equations.

I hope that answers your question.

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