Space-time Curvature of Classical Electromagnetism

Abstract

The space-time curvature carried by electromagnetic fields is discovered and a new unification of geometry and electromagnetism is found. Curvature is invariant under charge reversal symmetry. Electromagnetic field equations are examined with De Rham co homology theory. Radiative electromagnetic fields must be exact and co exact to preclude unobserved massless topological charges. Weyl's conformal tensor, here called ``the gravitational field'', is decomposed into a divergence-free non-local piece with support everywhere and a local piece with the same support as the matter. By tuning a local gravitational field to a Maxwell field the electromagnetic field's local gravitational field is discovered. This gravitational field carries the electromagnetic field's polarization or phase information, unlike Maxwell's stress-energy tensor. The unification assumes Einstein's equations and derives Maxwell's equations from curvature assumptions. Gravity forbids magnetic monopoles! This unification is stronger than the Einstein-Maxwell equations alone, as those equations must produce the electromagnetic field's local gravitational field and not just any conformal tensor. Charged black holes are examples. Curvature of radiative null electromagnetic fields is characterized.