Generalized Electrodynamics as a Special Case of Metric Independent Stress Theory

Abstract

We use a metric invariant stress theory of continuum mechanics to formulate a simple generalization of the the basic variables of electrodynamics and Maxwell's equations to general differentiable manifolds of any dimension, thus viewing generalized electrodynamics as a special case of continuum mechanics. The basic variable is the potential, or a variation thereof, which is represented as an $r$-form in a $d$-dimensional spacetime. The stress for the case of generalized electrodynamics, is assumed to be represented by an $(d-r-1)$-form, a generalization of the Maxwell $2$-form.