Exploring the electric field around a loop of static charge: Rectangles, stadiums, ellipses, and knots

We study the electric field around a continuous one-dimensional loop of static charge, under the assumption that the charge is distributed uniformly along the loop. For rectangular or stadium-shaped loops in the plane, we find that the electric field can undergo a symmetry-breaking pitchfork bifurca...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Max Lipton, Alex Townsend, Steven H. Strogatz
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: American Physical Society 2022-09-01
Series:Physical Review Research
Online Access:http://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.4.033249