The Maxwell's equations in the sense of distributions

Abstract

It is well known that there is no direct one-to-one correspondence between the electromagnetic theory based on the physical laws and that based on the Maxwell's differential equations. For example, in order to derive the boundary conditions from the Maxwell's differential equations, one assumes that some integral identities derived from them are valid even when the field components (or material parameters) are discontinuous. This assumption violates, in a sense, the completeness of the theory of electromagnetism based on the Maxwell's differential equations. We will prove that if one postulates that the Maxwell's equations are valid in the sense of distributions, then this incompleteness will be removed and the boundary conditions will appear implicitly in the basic differential equations.