An alternative resolution to the Mansuripur paradox

Abstract

The resolution of Mansuripur's paradox appears in numerous papers in the physics literature, preserves the Lorentz force but depends on the concept of hidden momentum. Here I propose a different resolution based on the overlooked fact that the charge-magnetic dipole system contains linear and angular electromagnetic field momentum. The time rate of change of the field angular momentum in the frame through which the system is moving cancels that due to the charge-electric dipole interaction. From this point of view hidden momentum is not needed in the resolution of the paradox.