Helmholtz decomposition theorem and Blumenthal's extension by regularization

Abstract

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Helmholtz decomposition theorem for vector fields is usually presented with too strong restrictions on the fields and only for time independent fields. Blumenthal showed in 1905 that decomposition is possible for any asymptotically weakly decreasing vector field. He used a regularization method in his proof which can be extended to prove the theorem even for vector fields asymptotically increasing sublinearly. Blumenthal's result is then applied to the time-dependent fields of the dipole radiation and an artificial sublinearly increasing field.

Keywords

• Helmholtz theorem
• vector field
• electromagnetic radiation