Electromagnetic Angular Momentum and Relativity

Abstract: Recently there have been suggestions that the Lorentz force law is inconsistent with special relativity. This is difficult to understand, since Einstein invented relativity in order to reconcile electrodynamics with mechanics. Here we investigate the momentum of an electric charge and a magnetic dipole in the frame in which both are at rest, and in an infinitesimally boosted frame in which both have a common velocity. We show that for a dipole composed of a magnetic monopole-antimonopole pair the torque is zero in both frames, while if the dipole is a point dipole, the torque is not zero, but is balanced by the rate of change of the angular momentum of the electromagnetic field, so there is no mechanical torque on the dipole.