 Electromagnetic wave equation

In source-free vacuum the electric field and magnetic field obeyA brief derivation takes the curl of Faraday's law and substitutes the Ampère-Maxwell equation. The vector calculus identity $\nabla \times (\nabla \times \mathbf{E})=\nabla (\nabla \cdot \mathbf{E})-{\nabla }^2\mathbf{E}$, together with source-free Gauss's law, leaves ${\nabla }^2\mathbf{E}={\mu }_0{ϵ}_0{\partial }_t^2\mathbf{E}$. The same argument gives the magnetic field equation. The operator ${\nabla }^2$ is the Laplacian, applied componentwise.

The electromagnetic wave equation describes the propagation of electric and magnetic fields in space and time. It is derived from Maxwell's equations, which govern classical electromagnetism.