Angular momentum paradox
A setup consists of three very long coaxial cylindrical objects: a
nonconducting cylindrical shell with radius \(a\) and total (uniform) charge
\(Q\), another nonconducting cylindrical shell with radius \(b>\) \(a\) and total
(uniform) charge \(-Q\), and a solenoid with radius \(R>b ;\) see Fig. 9.13. (This
setup is a variation of the setup in Boos (1984).) The current in the solenoid
produces a uniform magnetic field \(B_{0}\) in its interior. The solenoid is
fixed, but the two cylinders are free to rotate (independently) around the
axis. They are initially at rest. Imagine that the current in the solenoid is
then decreased to zero. (If you want to be picky about keeping the system
isolated from external torques, you can imagine the current initially flowing
in a superconductor which becomes a normal conductor when heated up.) The
changing \(B\) field inside the solenoid will induce an \(E\) field at the
locations of the two cylinders.
(a) Find the angular momentum gained by each cylinder by the time the magnetic
field has decreased to zero.
(b) You should find that the total change in angular momentum of the cylinders
is not zero. Does this mean that angular momentum isn't conserved? If it is
conserved, verify this quantitatively. You may assume that the two cylinders
are massive enough so that they don't end up spinning very quickly, which
means that we can ignore the \(B\) fields they generate. Hint: See Problem 9.11.