Ether Picture of Electromagnetism: An Illustrated Mechanical Reading of Charge, Fields, the Lorentz Force and Maxwell's Equations

This illustrated working paper explains electromagnetic phenomena with the mechanics of a single continuous medium, the ether, governed by one equation of motion (Law A: ρ_e ü = −∇×(K ∇×u) − ∇p + J). It runs from the most basic ideas to the more complex ones in four levels and 15 sections: the medium and static charge (Coulomb's and Gauss's laws); moving charge (the magnetic field as the twist of the ether, Ampère's law, a charge in electric and magnetic fields, and the origin of the Lorentz force); two things acting on each other (forces between wires, Faraday's and Lenz's laws, back emf, displacement current); and objects and the whole picture (permanent magnets and Maxwell's four equations). The paper relies on 33 diagrams rather than equations. Each topic ends with a "deep mechanism" box stating what Maxwell's formulation leaves unexplained and how the ether picture answers it. Every claim carries a status tag: simulated (checked in the authors' own numerical simulations, with the numbers given), analytic (follows from the equations but was not simulated for that specific point), or hypothesis (assumed or not yet tested). Open items are listed explicitly, for example the assumption that a moving charge pushes the ether by exactly q·w, the condition ε_θ = ρ_e needed for frame independence, electron spin, and a charging capacitor. All results are for zero gravitational potential (φ = 0). The simulation scripts behind the quoted numbers are not included in this record, and the full equations and numerical tests are planned as a separate document. This is a draft.