The present status of Maxwell's displacement current, John Roche, Eur. J. Phys. 19(1998) 155-166
Abstract. Physics literature on the displacement current from Maxwell to the present day is reviewed with the intention of clarifying the concept. Two major traditions of interpretation are identified, one deriving from Maxwell which maintains that the displacement current is electromagnetically equivalent to an electric current and one deriving from Lorentz which denies there is any displacement current. The article attempts to resolve various outstanding ambiguities and it concludes with an assessment of the present status of both traditions of the interpretation. The appropriateness or otherwise of introducing the concept of a 'displacement current' to undergraduates is also discussed briefly.