The Maxwell equations as a B\"acklund transformation

Abstract

Backlund transformations (BTs) are a useful tool for integrating nonlinear partial differential equations (PDEs). However, the significance of BTs in linear problems should not be ignored. In fact, an important linear system of PDEs in Physics, namely, the Maxwell equations of Electromagnetism, may be viewed as a BT relating the wave equations for the electric and the magnetic field, these equations representing integrability conditions for solution of the Maxwell system. We examine the BT property of this system in detail, both for the vacuum case and for the case of a linear conducting medium.