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The electron is known to have an intrinsic magnetic moment, where a magnetic moment is generally defined as "the magnetic strength and orientation of a magnet or other object that produces a magnetic field."

In various sources (e.g. The Feynman Lectures, Wikipedia, popular science videos), it is commonly stated that "a magnetic field is just an electric field viewed from a different frame of reference."

Using this logic, can the intrinsic magnetic moment of the electron be considered as a purely electric moment instead? If so, how would the inertial frame of reference need to be transformed for this observation of a purely electric moment? If not, where do the assumptions and definitions applied above break down?

Mathews24
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  • The statement "a magnetic field is just an electric field viewed from a different frame of reference" is misleading. It is only true if a reference frame exists in which all charges are at rest. This is almost never the case. – my2cts Nov 16 '20 at 16:55
  • @my2cts Could you elaborate on why this is almost never the case? And perhaps that's the core of the question: why can the origin of the electron's magnetic moment not be viewed in a frame where it appears to be an electric moment? – Mathews24 Nov 16 '20 at 18:30
  • In general there is no reference system where all is at rest. – my2cts Nov 16 '20 at 18:50
  • While I don't generally disagree (e.g. turbulent plasma comprised of numerous charged particles), is such a reference system not possible for a single electron? – Mathews24 Nov 16 '20 at 19:09
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    Very reasonable question. An answer maybe you get here https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/565977/is-there-current-flowing-through-a-permanent-magnet-and-could-we-apply-amperes – HolgerFiedler Nov 18 '20 at 04:40
  • One can prove that particles cannot have half-integer spins greater than 2, e.g. this paper. And I wonder if this, or a related result, can be used to constrain the types of electric and magnetic multipoles a particle can produce. – Mathews24 Nov 22 '20 at 20:05
  • Having magnetic monopoles you get only another type of electricity? Makes no sense. For high gravitational potential we see very strong magnetic fields (magnetar) or nothing (BH). For the other extreme, near zero Kelvin, again the magnetic forces are very existent. Magnetic monopoles are highly relevant to get attention or to play with math. But anyway, maybe I’m wrong. – HolgerFiedler Nov 23 '20 at 04:30

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