The wave-function description of the electromagnetic field

Abstract

For an arbitrary electromagnetic field, we define a prepotential S, which is a complex-valued function of spacetime. The prepotential is a modification of the two scalar potential functions introduced by E. T. Whittaker. The prepotential is Lorentz covariant under a spin half representation. For a moving charge and any observer, we obtain a complex dimensionless scalar. The prepotential is a function of this dimensionless scalar. The prepotential S of an arbitrary electromagnetic field is described as an integral over the charges generating the field. The Faraday vector at each point may be derived from S by a convolution of the differential operator with the alpha matrices of Dirac. Some explicit examples will be calculated. We also present the Maxwell equations for the prepotential.