The momentum of an electromagnetic wave inside a dielectric Original Research Article

The problem of assigning a momentum to an electromagnetic wave packet propagating inside an insulator has become known under the name of the Abraham–Minkowski controversy. In the present paper we re-examine this issue making the hypothesis that the forces exerted on an insulator by an electromagnetic field do not distinguish between polarization and free charges. Under this assumption we show that the Abraham expression for the radiation mechanical momentum is highly favored.