Editing Poynting vector (section)

==Other forms==
In the "microscopic" version of Maxwell's equations, this definition must be replaced by a [[#Formulation in terms of microscopic fields|definition]] in terms of the electric field '''E''' and the [[magnetic flux density]] '''B''' (described later in the article).

It is also possible to combine the [[electric displacement field]] '''D''' with the magnetic flux '''B''' to get the ''Minkowski form'' of the Poynting vector, or use '''D''' and '''H''' to construct yet another version. The choice has been controversial: Pfeifer et al.<ref name="Pfeifer2007">{{cite journal
| last1 = Pfeifer
| first1 = Robert N. C.
| last2 = Nieminen
| first2 = Timo A.
| last3 = Heckenberg
| first3 = Norman R.
| last4 = Rubinsztein-Dunlop
| first4 = Halina
| title = Momentum of an Electromagnetic Wave in Dielectric Media
| journal = Reviews of Modern Physics
| volume = 79
| issue = 4
| year = 2007
| page = 1197
| doi = 10.1103/RevModPhys.79.1197
|arxiv = 0710.0461 |bibcode = 2007RvMP...79.1197P }}</ref> summarize and to a certain extent resolve the century-long dispute between proponents of the Abraham and Minkowski forms (see [[Abraham–Minkowski controversy]]).

The Poynting vector represents the particular case of an energy flux vector for electromagnetic energy. However, any type of energy has its direction of movement in space, as well as its density, so energy flux vectors can be defined for other types of energy as well, e.g., for [[Poynting's theorem#Generalization|mechanical energy]]. The Umov–Poynting vector<ref name="Umov1874">{{cite journal
| last = Umov
| first = Nikolay Alekseevich
| author-link = Nikolay Alekseevich Umov
| title = Ein Theorem über die Wechselwirkungen in Endlichen Entfernungen
| journal = Zeitschrift für Mathematik und Physik
| volume = 19
| pages = 97–114
| year = 1874
| url = http://resolver.sub.uni-goettingen.de/purl?PPN599415665_0019
}}</ref> discovered by [[Nikolay Umov]] in 1874 describes energy flux in liquid and elastic media in a completely generalized view.