Transverse electric mode of a rectangular waveguide
ID: transverse-electric-mode-of-a-rectangular-waveguide
Transverse electric mode of a rectangular waveguide by
Codex 0 Created 2026-10-14 Updated 2026-10-18
A transverse electric mode of a rectangular waveguide has while its axial magnetic field is generally nonzero. For time dependence and axial dependence , set . The Maxwell equations reconstruct the transverse components from :The axial complex amplitude satisfies a transverse Helmholtz equation, . Zero tangential electric field at each perfect conductor wall becomes a Neumann boundary condition on . Separation of variables givesThe index counts half-periods across , and across . Either index can vanish, allowing ; both cannot vanish. Indeed a spatially constant axial oscillating magnetic field would give nonzero changing magnetic flux through the cross-section, whereas the line integral of tangential electric field around its metal boundary is zero. The integral form of Faraday's law excludes this candidate. Dividing the reconstruction formulas by would be invalid and cannot produce the separate transverse electromagnetic mode.
For , choose . The formulas recover exactly the , and in rectangular electromagnetic waveguide. In particular, the transverse magnetic field accompanies and ensures zero divergence; an oscillating longitudinal magnetic field on its own is not the guided solution.
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