Relativistically expanding cylindrical electromagnetic fields

Abstract

We study relativistically expanding electromagnetic fields of cylindrical geometry. The fields emerge from the side surface of a cylinder and are invariant under translations parallel to the axis of the cylinder. The expansion velocity is in the radial direction and is parametrized by $v=R/(ct)$. We consider force-free magnetic fields by setting the total force the electromagnetic field exerts on the charges and the currents equal to zero. Analytical and semi-analytical separable solutions are found for the relativistic problem. In the non-relativistic limit the mathematical form of the equations is similar to equations that have already been studied in static systems of the same geometry.