ElectricCurrentPDEComponent[vars,pars]
yields an electric current PDE term with variables vars and parameters pars.
ElectricCurrentPDEComponent
ElectricCurrentPDEComponent[vars,pars]
yields an electric current PDE term with variables vars and parameters pars.
Details
- ElectricCurrentPDEComponent is typically used to generate an electric current continuity equation with model variables vars and model parameters pars.
- ElectricCurrentPDEComponent returns a sum of differential operators to be used as a part of partial differential equations:
- ElectricCurrentPDEComponent creates PDE components for stationary, frequency and parametric analysis.
- ElectricCurrentPDEComponent models electric fields produced by direct or alternating currents in conductive materials when magnetic and inductive effects are negligible.
- The results of ElectricCurrentPDEComponent can be use to compute current density magnitude values. »
- ElectricCurrentPDEComponent models stationary or harmonic electric fields with the electric scalar potential
[
] as dependent variable and independent variables
[
]. - Stationary variables vars are vars={V[x1,…,xn],{x1,…,xn}}.
- Time-dependent variables vars are vars={V[t,x1,…,xn],t,{x1,…,xn}}.
- Frequency-dependent variables vars are vars={V[x1,…,xn],ω,{x1,…,xn}}.
- The current continuity equation is
with volume charge density
[
], time variable
[
] and current density vector
[
]. - The constitutional material model equation, known as Ohm's law, is
where
[
] is the electrical conductivity and
[
] the electric field with
. - ElectricCurrentPDEComponent provides a stationary electric current model where
[
] is an externally generated current density vector and
[
] a current source: - ElectricCurrentPDEComponent provides a time domain model with time variable
[
], vacuum permittivity
[
] and relative permittivity
[
]: - ElectricCurrentPDEComponent provides a frequency domain model with vacuum permittivity
[
], polarization vector
[
], angular frequency
[
] and the imaginary unit
: - For linear materials, the frequency domain model simplifies to:
is the unitless relative permittivity.
can be isotropic, orthotropic or anisotropic.- The implicit default boundary condition for the electric current model is a 0 ElectricCurrentDensityValue.
- The units of the electric current model terms are in [
]. - The following parameters pars can be given:
-
parameter default symbol "CrossSectionalArea" 1
, cross-sectional area in [
] "CurrentSource" 0
, current source in [
]"ElectricalConductivity" 1
, electrical conductivity in [
]
"ExternalCurrentSource" {0,…}
, external current density vector in [
]"Material" - none "RegionSymmetry" None 
"Thickness" 1
, thickness in [
] - If a "Material" is specified, material constants are extracted from the material data; otherwise, relevant material parameters need to be specified.
- Additional parameters can be specified for the frequency domain models:
-
parameter default symbol "Polarization" {0,…}
, polarization vector in [
]"RelativePermittivity" 1
, unitless relative permittivity
"RemanentPolarization" {0,…}
, remanent polarization vector in [
]"VacuumPermittivity" 
, vacuum permittivity in [
] - All parameters may depend on the spacial variable
and dependent variable
. - The number of independent variables
determines the dimensions of
,
and
, and the length of vectors
,
and
. - A possible choice for the parameter "RegionSymmetry" is "Axisymmetric".
- "Axisymmetric" region symmetry represents a truncated cylindrical coordinate system where the cylindrical coordinates are reduced by removing the angle variable as follows:
-
dimension reduction e.g. stationary equation 1D 

2D 

- In 1D, when a "CrossSectionalArea"
is specified, the ElectricCurrentPDEComponent equation is given as: - In 2D, when a "Thickness"
is specified, the ElectricCurrentPDEComponent equation is given as: - In a 1D axisymmetric case, when a "Thickness"
is specified, the ElectricCurrentPDEComponent equation is given as: - The input specification for the parameters is exactly the same as for their corresponding operator terms.
- If no parameters are specified, the default electric current PDE is:
- If the ElectricCurrentPDEComponent depends on parameters
that are specified in the association pars as …,keypi…,pivi,…, the parameters
are replaced with
.
Examples
open all close allBasic Examples (5)
Define an stationary current PDE model:
Define a symbolic stationary current PDE:
Define a symbolic time-dependent current PDE model:
Define a symbolic frequency current PDE model:
Solve for the electric scalar potential in a constricted rectangular plate with an electrical conductivity of
:
Scope (7)
Define a stationary current PDE model for a specific material:
Specify an stationary current PDE with an electrical conductivity of
in units of [
] and an external current density of
in units of [
]:
Activate a stationary current PDE model for a specific material:
Define a symbolic stationary current PDE with electrical conductivity
an external current, a current source and a thickness:
Define a symbolic 2D axisymmetric stationary current PDE:
Applications (5)
2D Stationary Analysis (1)
3D Stationary Analysis (3)
Model a copper wire that is excited with a direct current (DC) of
[
] with a current density boundary condition at the upper boundary and with a zero electric potential condition at the lower boundary.
Set up the stationary current PDE model variables
and
:
Specify ground potential at the lower boundary:
Specify an inward current flow at the upper boundary:
Visualize the electric potential:
Model a tungsten wire with a potential difference of
[
]. Set up the stationary current PDE model variables
and
:
Set up the stationary current PDE:
The radius of the tungsten wire is
[
] and the geometric shape of the wire is s-shaped. Specify the parameters of the geometry:
An electric potential boundary condition of
[
] is applied at the left end boundary and a zero electric potential condition is applied at the right end boundary. A tolerance 0f
is applied at both ends to account for numerical errors in the discretized domain.
Set the electric potential boundary conditions at both ends of the wire:
Compute the current density vector:
Visualize the current density magnitude:
Model a copper spiral inductor that is excited with a current density normal to the left boundary and has a zero electric potential boundary condition at the right boundary.
Define the spiral inductor geometry:
Set up the stationary current PDE model variables
and
:
Specify an inward current flow on the left boundary:
Frequency Analysis (1)
Model a dielectric material of a cylindrical capacitor that is excited with an alternating current (AC) of
[
], with a current density boundary condition at the upper electrode, and with a zero electric potential boundary condition at the lower boundary.
Set up the frequency current PDE model variables
:
Define the frequency and the period:
Specify an electrical conductivity
and a relative permittivity
:
Specify the ground potential at the lower boundary:
Specify an inward current flow at the upper boundary:
Solve the harmonic PDE for
[
]:
Transform the voltage at the upper boundary to the time domain:
Possible Issues (2)
For a symbolic computation, the "ElectricalConductivity", "VacuumPermittivity" or "RelativePermittivity" parameters should be given as a matrix:
For numeric values, the "ElectricalConductivity", "VacuumPermittivity" or "RelativePermittivity" parameter is automatically converted to a matrix of proper dimensions:
This automatic conversion is not possible for symbolic input:
Not providing the properly dimensioned matrix will result in an error:
For frequency domain models, material parameters are not available when "Material" is specified:
Tech Notes
Related Guides
Text
Wolfram Research (2024), ElectricCurrentPDEComponent, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/ElectricCurrentPDEComponent.html (updated 2025).
CMS
Wolfram Language. 2024. "ElectricCurrentPDEComponent." Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Wolfram Research. Last Modified 2025. https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/ElectricCurrentPDEComponent.html.
APA
Wolfram Language. (2024). ElectricCurrentPDEComponent. Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Retrieved from https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/ElectricCurrentPDEComponent.html
BibTeX
@misc{reference.wolfram_2025_electriccurrentpdecomponent, author="Wolfram Research", title="{ElectricCurrentPDEComponent}", year="2025", howpublished="\url{https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/ElectricCurrentPDEComponent.html}", note=[Accessed: 27-October-2025]}
BibLaTeX
@online{reference.wolfram_2025_electriccurrentpdecomponent, organization={Wolfram Research}, title={ElectricCurrentPDEComponent}, year={2025}, url={https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/ElectricCurrentPDEComponent.html}, note=[Accessed: 27-October-2025]}