Oleg D. Jefimenko

Oleg Dmitrovich Jefimenko (October 14, 1922, Kharkiv, Ukraine - May 14, 2009, Morgantown, West Virginia, USA) was a physicist and Professor Emeritus at West Virginia University.

Biography

Jefimenko received his B.A. degree at Lewis and Clark College in 1952 and his M. A. degree at the University of Oregon in 1954. He received his Ph.D. degree at the University of Oregon in 1956. Jefimenko worked for the development of the theory of electromagnetic retardation and relativity. In 1956, he was awarded the Sigma Xi Prize. In 1971 and 1973, he won awards in the AAPT Apparatus Competition. Jefimenko constructed and operated electrostatic generators run by atmospheric electricity.

Jefimenko worked on the generalization of Newton's gravitational theory to time-dependent systems. In his opinion, there is no objective reason for abandoning Newton's force-field gravitational theory (in favor of a metric gravitational theory). He was trying to develop and expand Newton's theory, making it compatible with the principle of causality and making it applicable to time-dependent gravitational interactions.

Jefimenko's expansion, or generalization, is based on the existence of the second gravitational force field, the "cogravitational, or Heaviside's, field". This might also be called a gravimagnetic field. It represents a physical approach profoundly different from the time-space geometry approach of the Einstein general theory of relativity. Oliver Heaviside first predicted this field in the article A Gravitational and Electromagnetic Analogy (1893).

Selected publications

Books

Gravitation and Cogravitation: Developing Newton's Theory of Gravitation to its Physical and Mathematical Conclusion, Electret Scientific Company, 2006.
Electromagnetic Retardation and Theory of Relativity: New Chapters in the Classical Theory of Fields, 2nd ed., Electret Scientific, Star City, 2004.
Causality, Electromagnetic Induction, and Gravitation: A Different Approach to the Theory of Electromagnetic and Gravitational Fields, 2nd ed., Electret Scientific, Star City, 2000.
Electricity and Magnetism: An Introduction to the Theory of Electric and Magnetic Fields, 2nd ed., Electret Scientific, Star City, 1989.
Scientific Graphics with Lotus 1-2-3: Curve Plotting, 3D Graphics, and Pictorial Compositions. Electret Scientific, Star City, 1987.
30 Music Programs for Timex Sinclair 2068. Electret Scientific, Star City, 1985.
Electrostatic motors; their history, types, and principles of operation. Star City [W. Va.], Electret Scientific Co. [1973]. LCCN 73180890
Electrostatic motors; their history, types, and principles of operation; NEW REVISED EDITION, edited by Thomas Valone. Integrity Research Institute, Beltsville, MD [2011].

Book chapters

What is the Physical Nature of Electric and Magnetic Forces?, in: Has the Last Word Been Said on Classical Electrodynamics? -- New Horizons, A. E. Chubykalo, Ed., Rinton Press, Paramus, 2004 .
Does special relativity prohibit superluminal velocities?, in: Instantaneous Action at a Distance in Modern Physics: "Pro" and "Contra, A. E. Chubykalo, Ed., (Nova Science, New York, 1999).

Papers

Causal equations for electric and magnetic fields and Maxwell's equations: Comment on a paper by Heras, Am. J. Phys. 76, February 2008, Issue 2, pp. 101
Pile Driver Exercise, The Physics Teacher, January 2006, Volume 44, Issue 1, pp. 4.
A neglected topic in relativistic electrodynamics: transformation of electromagnetic integrals, arxiv.org, 2005.
Presenting electromagnetic theory in accordance with the principle of causality, Eur. J. Phys. 25 287-296, 2004. doi:10.1088/0143-0807/25/2/015
Causality, the Coulomb field, and Newton's law of gravitation (Comment), Am. J. Phys. 70, Issue 9, p. 964, September 2002.
Dynamic electric field maps of point charge moving with constant velocity, The Physics Teacher 38, March 2000, pp. 154–157 (contains portrait of the author).
The Trouton-Noble paradox, J. Phys. A: Math. Gen. 32, 1999, 3755–3762.
On the relativistic invariance of Maxwell's equations, Z. Naturforsch. 54a, 1999, , 637–644,
On the experimental proofs of relativistic length contraction and time dilation, Z. Naturforsch. 53a, 1998, pp. 977–982.
A relativistic paradox seemingly violating conservation of momentum law in electromagnetic systems, Eur. J. Phys. 20, 39–44, 1999.
On Maxwell's displacement current, Eur. J. Phys. 19, 1998, 469-470.
Correct use of Lorentz-Einstein transformation equations for electromagnetic fields, Eur. J. of Physs. 18, 444-447, 1997.
Derivation of relativistic force transformation equations from Lorentz force law, Am. J. Phys. 64 (5), May 1996, pp. 618–6210.
Direct calculation of time dilation, Am. J. Phys. 64 (6), June 1996, pp. 812–814.
Is magnetic field due to an electric current a relativistic effect?, Eur. J. Phys., 17, 1996, pp. 180–182.
Retardation and relativity: new integrals for electric and magnetic potentials of time-independent charge distributions moving with constant velocity, Eur. J. Phys. 17, 1996, pp. 258–264.
Retardation and relativity: derivation of Lorentz-Einstein transformations from retarded integrals for electric and magnetic fields, Am. J. Phys. 63 (3), 1995, 267-72.
Retardation and relativity: the ease of a moving line charge, Am. J. Phys., 63 (5), 1995, 454-9.
Gravitational field of a point mass moving with uniform linear or circular velocity, Galilean Electrodynamics, March/April 1994, pp. 25–33.
Direct calculation of the electric and magnetic fields of an electric point charge movingwith constant velocity, Am.J.Phys. 62, 79-84, 1994.
Solutions of Maxwell's equations for electric and magnetic fields in arbitrary media, Am. J. Phys. 60, 899-902 1992.
Electrets, (with D. K. Walker) Phys. Teach. 18, 651-659, 1980.
How can An Electroscope be Charged This Way?, TPT 56, 1979.
Water Stream 'Loop-the-Loop, AJP 42, 103-105, 1974.
Franklin electric motor, Am. J. Phys. 39, 1139–1141, 1971.
Operation of electric motors from atmospheric electric field, Am. J. Phys. 39, 776-779, 1971.
Demonstration of the electric fields of current-carrying conductors. Am. J. Phys. 30, 19-21, 1962.
Effect of the earth's magnetic field on the motion of an artificial satellite, Am. J. Phys. 27, 344-348, 1959.

Encyclopedia Article

Maxwell's Equations, Macmillan Encyclopedia of Physics, Macmillan, New York, 1996.

External links

Oleg D. Jefimenko. Dept of physics.