In classical electromagnetism, the electromagnetic potential is a mathematical concept used to describe the behavior of electric and magnetic fields. The electromagnetic potential can be thought of as a scalar or vector field that associates a value to every point in space and time, and it provides a way to calculate the electric and magnetic fields by taking derivatives with respect to space and time.
There are two types of electromagnetic potentials: the electric potential and the vector potential. The electric potential is a scalar field that describes the electric field, while the vector potential is a vector field that describes the magnetic field.
The electric potential is defined as the work per unit charge required to move a small test charge from a reference point to the point of interest in the presence of an electric field. The electric potential is often denoted by the symbol "V" and is measured in volts.
The vector potential is defined as the curl of a vector field that describes the magnetic field. It is often denoted by the symbol "A" and is measured in units of Tesla-meters or Weber-meters. The vector potential is related to the magnetic field through a mathematical equation known as the Biot-Savart law.
