Electromagnetic wave

An electromagnetic wave is a propagating disturbance of the electric field and magnetic field obeying the Maxwell equations. In source-free vacuum its speed isthe speed of light. An electromagnetic wave can travel through vacuum: a conducting medium is unnecessary. A single traveling plane electromagnetic wave has mutually perpendicular electric field, magnetic field, and propagation direction. This statement applies to that wave; arbitrary near and far field configurations need not share these directions or the relation $|\mathbf{B}|=|\mathbf{E}|/c$.

The visualization compares perpendicular components on a common scale: $c\mathbf{B}$ has the same units as $\mathbf{E}$. The curves are field values along space, rather than paths traced by particles. Their common phase moves toward $+z$, while the Poynting vector records the associated energy flux.

The electromagnetic wave equation gives a propagation law, while the full Maxwell equations additionally enforce the field directions and relative amplitudes. This is why solving an independent scalar wave equation for each component is insufficient to construct an electromagnetic wave. ^[ref].

For a uniform plane-wave beam of cross section $A$, mean intensity is $P/A=c{B}_{\mathrm{rms}}^2/{\mu }_0$. Hence $B_{\mathrm{rms}}=\sqrt{{\mu }_{0}P/(cA)}$. A sinusoidal peak amplitude is $\sqrt{2}$ times the rms amplitude. A Gaussian beam requires a stated waist or diameter convention before inferring its on-axis field from total power.

A closed rectangular perfect conductor cavity has discrete normal modes selected by zero tangential electric field at the walls. Each frequency has the displayed form. With all three indices positive there are two independent polarizations of an electromagnetic wave; modes with exactly one zero index have one, and those with two zero indices are absent. For example the $n=0$ family can have $E_z\propto \sin (\pi lx/L_x)\sin (\pi my/L_y)$, independent of $z$. It satisfies the wall conditions because $E_z$ is normal to the $z$ faces and tangential to the side walls. Omitting such zero-index families is harmless for leading bulk density of states, but changes the low-temperature physics of a thin cavity.

For a plane electromagnetic wave in a homogeneous, linear, lossless, isotropic medium with permittivity $ϵ$ and magnetic permeability $\mu$, the wave impedance relates the field amplitudes by $Z=E/H=\sqrt{\mu /ϵ}$. Its units are ohms. Impedance differences determine the normal-incidence amplitude Fresnel equations, $r=(Z_2-Z_1)/(Z_2+Z_1)$ and $t=2Z_2/(Z_2+Z_1)$, with a common tangential electric-field axis.

The ratio of transmitted to incident normal time-averaged power for a specified wave and interface. Converting a field-amplitude transmission coefficient into power requires the appropriate impedances or flux normalization. For a displacement wave on a string with impedance $Z$, $\mathcal{T}=(Z_2/Z_1)|t{|}^2$; using an electric-field amplitude in electromagnetic waves instead gives the corresponding electromagnetic flux ratio. Amplitude squared alone is sufficient only when the relevant incident and transmitted normalizations agree.

The energy flux carried into a transmitted wave, integrated over the relevant cross section. The power transmission coefficient compares this with incident power. A displacement or field-amplitude transmission coefficient must be converted with the appropriate wave impedances; its squared modulus alone need not be the power fraction. This distinction applies both to electromagnetic waves and transverse string waves.

An electromagnetic waveguide confines an electromagnetic wave across its axis while allowing it to travel along the axis. Conducting walls or changes of refractive index select transverse normal modes: reproducible cross-sectional field patterns with their own longitudinal wavenumbers. A hollow metal pipe and an optical fiber are different realizations of this principle. Their usefulness is to deliver electromagnetic energy along a chosen route instead of letting it spread freely.

For a uniform vacuum-filled conducting guide, write a normal mode's axial and time dependence as $e^{i(\beta z-\omega t)}$. Here $\omega >0$ is angular frequency, $\beta$ is the longitudinal wavenumber, and $k_{\perp }^2$ is the transverse eigenvalue selected by the wall boundary conditions. The electromagnetic wave equation separates intoThe geometry consumes part of the available squared wavenumber: when $\omega /c<k_{\perp }$, this branch is an evanescent wave rather than a propagating normal mode. The waveguide cutoff frequency is therefore a property of a specified branch and geometry. A transverse electromagnetic mode in a suitable two-conductor geometry can have $k_{\perp }=0$ and no positive geometric cutoff. An optical fiber needs its own dielectric boundary conditions, rather than the metal-wall formulas below.

The rectangular electromagnetic waveguide makes these ideas explicit with a single sine profile. The scalar-potential conducting waveguide modes give a broader construction. At an open aperture, a confined field can radiate into the electromagnetic aperture angular spectrum; it need not remain one guided normal mode.

An optical waveguide confines an optical normal mode transversely while permitting longitudinal propagation. A higher-refractive index layer between lower-index layers provides a simple dielectric realization. In a double heterostructure laser, overlap of the guided field with the carrier-rich active layer improves useful optical gain.

A guided electromagnetic wave whose electric field has no component along the propagation axis. Its magnetic field can have a longitudinal component. In an empty perfectly conducting rectangular electromagnetic waveguide, transverse wave numbers determine a nonzero cutoff frequency. This differs from a transverse electromagnetic mode, in which both fields are transverse.

A dielectric slab surrounded by lower-index material confines waves with an oscillatory core profile and evanescent exterior tails. In an isotropic, nonmagnetic symmetric slab, an even transverse-electric field has core profile $\cos Kz$ and matches to exponential tails through $K\tan (Kd)=K^{\prime }$. The transverse constants also satisfy $K^2+K^{\prime 2}=({ϵ}_r-1){\omega }^2/c^2$ for vacuum exterior.

Set $u=Kd$, $w=K^{\prime }d$, and $\mathcal{V}=(\omega d/c)\sqrt{{ϵ}_r-1}$. The circle in the first quadrant falls from $w=\mathcal{V}$, while $u\tan u$ rises from zero to its first pole. A unique first-branch intersection exists for every $\mathcal{V}>0$. It yields a nodeless even bound field. At exactly zero index contrast there is no confined mode; as contrast tends to zero from above its tail extends without bound.

For dependence $e^{i(kz-\omega t)}$, a Helmholtz equation $({\Delta }_{\perp }+{\gamma }^2)\psi =0$ generates transverse-magnetic fields $e_{\perp }={\nabla }_{\perp }\psi$, $e_z=-i{\gamma }^2\psi /k$, $b_{\perp }=\omega \hat{z}\times {\nabla }_{\perp }\psi /(k{c}^2)$, $b_z=0$, for $k\ne 0$. The conducting wall requires a Dirichlet boundary condition on $\psi$. A transverse-electric representation is $e_{\perp }=\hat{z}\times {\nabla }_{\perp }\psi$, $e_z=0$, $b_{\perp }=-k{\nabla }_{\perp }\psi /\omega$, $b_z=i{\gamma }^2\psi /\omega$, with a Neumann boundary condition. These are families of modes, not a completeness assertion for multiply connected guides and their possible TEM fields.

For an aperture normal to ${\mathbf{e}}_x$, let $F_y,F_z$ be its tangential electric field traces extended by zero outside the aperture. With the outgoing branch of $\kappa$, the Weyl plane-wave representation and the curl aperture integral give a spectrum proportional to $(-(\nu {\hat{F}}_y+\eta {\hat{F}}_z)/\kappa ,{\hat{F}}_y,{\hat{F}}_z)$. Each wave is transverse to $\mathbf{q}$. The longitudinal electric component is regenerated by oblique diffraction even when it vanishes at the input. For $G=e^{ikr}/(4\pi r)$ and a unit prefactor on the stated curl integral, the spectrum has an overall factor $1/2$; a doubled half-space Green kernel gives factor one. The normalization must follow the chosen Green kernel and equivalent-current convention.

Take a straight hollow rectangular electromagnetic waveguide with vacuum interior $0<x<a$, $0<y<b$ and axis $z$, where $a>b>0$. Its four walls are ideal perfect conductors. The time-dependent Maxwell equations require zero tangential electric field and zero normal oscillating magnetic field at these walls. Real metal has finite electrical conductivity, so real guides lose electromagnetic energy by Joule heating; the perfect-wall model isolates confinement and wave dispersion from that loss.

The simplest propagating transverse electric mode of a rectangular waveguide is ${\mathrm{TE}}_{10}$. “Transverse electric” means $E_z=0$, not that the magnetic field is also wholly transverse. With real peak scale $E_0$, its complex amplitudes, including the common axial factor, can be writtenThe physical fields are the real parts after multiplication by $e^{-i\omega t}$. In particular, $E_y$ is zero at $x=0,a$, maximal at $x=a/2$, and independent of $y$. At $y=0,b$ it is normal to the metal, so it need not vanish there. The ${\mathrm{TE}}_{10}$ electric field crosses the narrow gap, while its strength varies across the broad dimension.

For an original example choose $a=30\mathrm{mm}$, $b=12\mathrm{mm}$ and $f=1.25f_c$, where $f_c=c/(2a)$. With $c=299792458m/s$, this givesHere ${\lambda }_0=c/f$ is vacuum wavelength and ${\lambda }_g=2\pi /\beta$ is guided wavelength. The next cutoff is ${\mathrm{TE}}_{20}$ at $2f_c$; ${\mathrm{TE}}_{01}$ starts at $(a/b)f_c=2.5f_c$. Thus only ${\mathrm{TE}}_{10}$ can propagate at the chosen frequency, although a source or discontinuity can additionally excite local evanescent waves. These are calculated values, not specifications or measurements of a commercial guide.

In a hollow rectangular electromagnetic waveguide with perfect conductor walls and axis $z$, a transverse magnetic polarization has $B_z=0$ and a nonzero longitudinal electric field $E_z$. The wall boundary conditions impose $E_z=0$ around the transverse rectangle. Separation of variables therefore gives $E_z=E_0\sin (n\pi x/a)\sin (m\pi y/b)e^{i(k_{z}z-\omega t)}$, with $n,m\ge 1$. Setting either index to zero makes the entire field vanish. Thus there is no ${\mathrm{TM}}_{n0}$ or ${\mathrm{TM}}_{0m}$ branch. The transverse eigenvalue is $k_{\perp }^2=(n\pi /a{)}^2+(m\pi /b{)}^2$, with dispersion relation ${\omega }^2/c^2=k_z^2+k_{\perp }^2$. This exclusion is specific to this geometry and these boundary conditions.

The waveguide cutoff frequency separates oscillatory axial propagation from exponential decay for a particular normal mode. For the vacuum-filled rectangular electromagnetic waveguide, the dispersion relation isFor a transverse electric mode of a rectangular waveguide, $m,n$ are nonnegative integers but not both zero. For a mode with $B_z=0$ and nonzero $E_z$, both indices must be positive. The lowest cutoff for $a>b$ is consequently ${\omega }_{10}=\pi c/a$, or ordinary frequency $f_c=c/(2a)$.

A square cross-section instead gives equal ${\mathrm{TE}}_{10}$ and ${\mathrm{TE}}_{01}$ cutoffs. The absence of a transverse electromagnetic mode is specific to this hollow pipe, rather than all electromagnetic waveguides.^[ref]

For $\omega >{\omega }_{mn}$, choose real $\beta >0$ for propagation toward $+z$. For $0<\omega <{\omega }_{mn}$, a field decaying into a semi-infinite guide hasA finite section can contain both growing and decaying axial solutions set by its two ends; the single decaying solution is not a complete finite-section transmission calculation. At exact cutoff $\beta =0$, the two axial solutions become a constant and a linear function of $z$: there is no finite axial wavelength for a traveling sinusoid.

In the chosen $a=30\mathrm{mm}$ guide at $f=0.8f_c=3.99723277\mathrm{GHz}$, the ${\mathrm{TE}}_{10}$ branch has $\alpha =20\pi {\mathrm{m}}^{-1}$. Its amplitude decay length is $1/\alpha \simeq 15.9155\mathrm{mm}$; after $50\mathrm{mm}$, its normalized wave amplitude is $e^{-\pi }\simeq 0.0432139$. This is geometric evanescence even with ideal walls, not Joule heating. A single decaying branch has zero cycle-averaged axial Poynting vector: substituting $\beta =i\alpha$ makes $B_x$ a quarter-cycle out of phase with $E_y$. Coupling across a finite section requires the complete boundary-value solution.

For a propagating branch of an ideal vacuum-filled rectangular electromagnetic waveguide, the phase velocity tracks constant wave phase along the axis, whereas the group velocity describes a sufficiently narrow, weakly distorted wave packet. Using ${\omega }^2=c^2{\beta }^2+{\omega }_c^2$ givesThus $v_{\mathrm{ph}}>c$, $0<v_g<c$, and $v_{\mathrm{ph}}{v}_g=c^2$. Differentiating the dispersion relation proves the second formula; dividing it by ${\beta }^2$ proves the first. This is the same mathematical structure as Klein-Gordon packet velocities. In the stipulated $f=1.25f_c$ example,Over $0.30\mathrm{m}$, the corresponding narrow-envelope delay is $(0.50\mathrm{m})/c$, approximately $1.668\mathrm{ns}$. Timing a carrier wave crest would give $0.6004\mathrm{ns}$; it does not time the arrival of a newly introduced message.

There is an independent energy check. For the forward ${\mathrm{TE}}_{10}$ fields, the average axial Poynting vector is $⟨S_z⟩=\beta |E_y{|}^2/(2{\mu }_0\omega )$. Integrating across the guide gives average power $P$ and average electromagnetic energy per unit length $U^{\prime }$:The transverse sine and cosine squared each integrate to $a/2$; ${\beta }^2+(\pi /a{)}^2={\omega }^2/c^2$ then makes the integrated electric and magnetic contributions to $U^{\prime }$ equal. The axial energy transport therefore agrees with the group velocity in this ideal model.

As $\omega \downarrow {\omega }_c$, $v_g\to 0$ and $v_{\mathrm{ph}}\to \infty$; exactly at cutoff $\omega /\beta$ is undefined. Strong wave dispersion close to cutoff also limits the narrow-packet approximation. Neither a large phase velocity nor a pulse peak establishes superluminal information velocity; front velocity asks a separate causal question. In a uniform filling with constant positive permittivity $\epsilon$ and magnetic permeability $\mu$, replace $c$ by $u=1/\sqrt{\epsilon \mu }$, giving $v_{\mathrm{ph}}{v}_g=u^2$. Frequency-dependent material response or significant loss requires differentiating the actual dispersion relation, so this product is not universal.

A transverse electric mode of a rectangular waveguide has $E_z=0$ while its axial magnetic field is generally nonzero. For time dependence $e^{-i\omega t}$ and axial dependence $e^{i\beta z}$, set $\Delta =(\omega /c{)}^2-{\beta }^2$. The Maxwell equations reconstruct the transverse components from $B_z$:The axial complex amplitude satisfies a transverse Helmholtz equation, $({\partial }_x^2+{\partial }_y^2+\Delta )B_z=0$. Zero tangential electric field at each perfect conductor wall becomes a Neumann boundary condition on $B_z$. Separation of variables givesThe index $m$ counts half-periods across $a$, and $n$ across $b$. Either index can vanish, allowing ${\mathrm{TE}}_{10}$; 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 ${\mathrm{TE}}_{00}$ candidate. Dividing the reconstruction formulas by $\Delta =0$ would be invalid and cannot produce the separate transverse electromagnetic mode.

For $m=1,n=0$, choose $B_{\ast }=-i(\pi /a)E_0/\omega$. The formulas recover exactly the $E_y$, $B_x$ and $B_z$ in rectangular electromagnetic waveguide. In particular, the transverse magnetic field accompanies $B_z$ and ensures zero divergence; an oscillating longitudinal magnetic field on its own is not the guided solution.

Below the lowest waveguide cutoff frequency, the axial wave number of the ${\mathrm{TE}}_{10}$ mode is $i\kappa$, with $\kappa >0$. For a real peak scale $E_0$ and time convention $e^{-i\omega t}$, $E_y=E_0\sin (\pi x/a)e^{-\kappa z}$, $B_x=-i\kappa E_y/\omega$ and $B_z=-i{E}_0(\pi /a)\cos (\pi x/a)e^{-\kappa z}/\omega$. The electric field and magnetic field are in quadrature. A single decaying mode in a lossless semi-infinite guide consequently has zero time-averaged Poynting vector, although its instantaneous field stores energy.

The guided wavelength is the distance for a $2\pi$ change of axial wave phase in a propagating normal mode. For the vacuum-filled rectangular electromagnetic waveguide,for ${\mathrm{TE}}_{10}$, with ${\lambda }_0=c/f$ and $f>f_c$. It exceeds the vacuum wavelength at the same frequency. This longer axial spacing is consistent with $v_{\mathrm{ph}}>c$: multiplying ${\lambda }_g$ by $f$ gives the phase velocity, not the group velocity.

Two oppositely traveling fields at the same frequency form a standing wave. For a perfect electric short at $z=0$, the total electric field is proportional to $\sin (\beta z)\sin (\pi x/a)$, so successive axial electric nodes are separated byThus neighboring minima in a slotted line scan give half a guided wavelength. In the original $a=30\mathrm{mm}$, $f=1.25f_c$ example, $d=40\mathrm{mm}$ implies ${\lambda }_g=80\mathrm{mm}$, not $40\mathrm{mm}$. Combined with the chosen $f$, the inferred broad dimension is $a={\lambda }_0/[2\sqrt{1-({\lambda }_0/{\lambda }_g{)}^2}]=30\mathrm{mm}$. Below cutoff, $\beta$ is imaginary and $2\pi /\beta$ is not a physical periodic spacing.

MIT's documented slotted-line waveguide measurement shorts one end of a rectangular electromagnetic waveguide and excites it through a probe coupled by capacitance. A second such probe moves through a longitudinal slot, aligned with the wall electric current to reduce disturbance. Its output locates axial standing wave nulls. The book's standing-wave setup chooses a frequency above the first waveguide cutoff frequency and below higher-mode cutoffs. Lowering it below the first cutoff instead reveals spatial decay away from the source. The text supplies apparatus and an observable comparison, rather than a table of measured null positions.^[ref]

The inference can be checked without assuming that detector output is proportional to electric field amplitude. At fixed measured frequency, record several minima at coordinates $z_0,\dots ,z_N$; then estimate ${\lambda }_g=2(z_N-z_0)/N$ when the minima are consecutive. This uses positions alone. Compare the result with the guided wavelength prediction using independently measured $a$ and $f$. The $40\mathrm{mm}$ spacing above is a synthetic example, not a reading from the MIT apparatus.

Additional proposed controls are to keep probe insertion fixed, repeat the scan in both directions, recheck source frequency, and compare shallow probe settings for shifts in the minima. These test probe loading, mechanical backlash and drift. A deliberately reflecting termination supplies the standing wave; varying its position should translate the pattern without changing adjacent-null spacing in a uniform single-mode region. Source-adjacent evanescent waves, unintended reflections, additional propagating normal modes, detector noise and finite positional resolution can spoil that inference. A disappearing remote signal alone does not distinguish below-cutoff decay from loss or poor excitation, and a scan at one frequency does not measure a pulse's group velocity.

Relative to a propagation plane, transverse magnetic polarization has its magnetic field perpendicular to that plane. At a perfectly conducting corrugation its scalar magnetic component obeys a Neumann condition. It reduces to a scalar two-dimensional problem, but not to the Dirichlet problem for the transverse electric component.

Relative to a propagation plane, transverse electric polarization has its electric field perpendicular to that plane. For a conducting corrugation independent of the perpendicular coordinate, the scalar electric component obeys the Helmholtz equation with Dirichlet data at the metal surface.

With permittivity and permeability depending only on $z$ and time dependence $e^{i\omega t}$, a transverse electric polarization $\mathbf{E}=\hat{\mathbf{y}}{E}_y(x,z)$ obeys the displayed equation. Maxwell's equations give $H_x=E_{y,z}/(i\omega \mu )$ and $H_z=-E_{y,x}/(i\omega \mu )$. The latter satisfies $H_{z,xx}+H_{z,zz}+({\mu }^{\prime }/\mu )H_{z,z}+[{\omega }^2\mu \epsilon +(\log \mu {)}^{\prime \prime }]H_z=0$. At normal incidence $H_z=0$; the nonzero magnetic component is $H_x$.

The refractive index compares the phase velocity of light in a medium with the vacuum speed of light $c$. For a transparent, uniform medium with isotropy and a positive-index propagation branch,Here $\omega >0$ is the angular frequency, $k>0$ is the wavenumber, and $v_{\mathrm{ph}}=\omega /k$ is the speed of a surface of constant wave phase. The refractive index is a dimensionless quantity; it is a property of a specified material response at a specified frequency, rather than a universal number attached to the word “glass”. More general absorbing or negative-index media require the conventions discussed in refractive index and electromagnetic response. ^[ref]

For an original model example, choose $n=3/2$ at vacuum wavelength ${\lambda }_0=600\mathrm{nm}$. The phase velocity is $v_{\mathrm{ph}}=2c/3\simeq 1.999\times 10^{8}m/s$, the frequency is $f=c/{\lambda }_0\simeq 4.997\times 10^{14}\mathrm{Hz}$, and the medium wavelength is $400\mathrm{nm}$. These are stipulated model values, not measured properties of glass or water. A value at this single frequency does not determine a pulse's group velocity.

The usefulness of refractive index is that one measured response connects several different observations: Snell's law predicts refraction, optical path length predicts accumulated wave phase, and changes with frequency describe optical dispersion. Even at normal incidence, where a light ray does not bend, a changed refractive index changes wavelength and wave phase. The following comparison isolates that effect; the oblique geometry is developed in wavefront.

The ratio $n=c/v_{\mathrm{ph}}$ compares vacuum light speed with the phase velocity at a specified frequency. In a dispersive material it differs from the group index; the Cherenkov radiation cone uses the phase index.

For a plane wave proportional to $e^{i(N\omega z/c-\omega t)}$, the complex refractive index separates phase propagation from attenuation. In a nonmagnetic medium $N^2={ϵ}_r$, so $n^2-{\kappa }^2={ϵ}_r^{\prime }$ and $2n\kappa ={ϵ}_r^{\prime \prime }$. The passive branch has $\kappa \ge 0$. If $\kappa \ll n$ and ${ϵ}_r^{\prime }>0$, then $n\simeq \sqrt{{ϵ}_r^{\prime }}$ and $\kappa \simeq {ϵ}_r^{\prime \prime }/(2\sqrt{{ϵ}_r^{\prime }})$. These signs assume the $e^{-i\omega t}$ convention for the complex permittivity.

The imaginary part $\kappa$ of the complex refractive index makes wave amplitude decay as $e^{-\omega \kappa z/c}$. Since intensity is proportional to amplitude squared, its absorption coefficient is ${\alpha }_{\mathrm{abs}}=2\omega \kappa /c$.

The relative refractive index of medium two with respect to medium one is $n_{21}=n_2/n_1$, using their absolute refractive indices at the same frequency. For transparent media with isotropy and positive refractive indices, Snell's law gives $n_{21}=\sin i/\sin r$, with the angles measured from the interface normal. Thus a refraction measurement in air directly determines an index relative to air. Converting it to an absolute refractive index requires the refractive index of that air; replacing it by one is an approximation.

For a linear stationary interface, phase matching at a planar wave interface preserves frequency: the incident and transmitted electric fields must oscillate together at each boundary point. Their phase velocities can differ, so their wavelengths differ. Writing $\omega =2\pi f$, the definitions giveThis explains the compressed wavefront spacing in the figure without changing the time between crests at the interface. Moving interfaces or time-dependent material responses need not preserve frequency. ^[ref]

The notation $n({\lambda }_0)$ labels refractive index by vacuum wavelength; it does not mean the wavelength inside the material. Dependence on ${\lambda }_0$, equivalently on frequency, is optical dispersion. The field driving the material induces oscillating electric charges; their emitted electromagnetic fields combine with the applied field to change the resulting wave phase. This collective response motivates refractive index, rather than a picture of independently delayed little pieces of light. ^[ref]

To distinguish three speeds, track a wavefront for phase velocity, a narrow wave envelope for group velocity, and the earliest newly introduced disturbance for front velocity. For a transparent differentiable propagation branch,The denominator is the group refractive index. It describes envelope transit when loss and reshaping are small. It need not equal $n$, and neither phase velocity nor a reshaped pulse peak generally measures signal arrival. The front velocity article explains the separate relativistic causality constraint and why a detector threshold is not an exact causal-front measurement.

For a uniform linear medium with isotropy and local constitutive response, Maxwell equations give $k^2={\omega }^2\epsilon (\omega )\mu (\omega )$. Here $\epsilon$ is permittivity and $\mu$ is magnetic permeability. Since $c^{-2}={\epsilon }_0{\mu }_0$, the relative permittivity ${\epsilon }_r=\epsilon /{\epsilon }_0$ and the relative magnetic permeability ${\mu }_r=\mu /{\mu }_0$ obeyIf both responses are real and positive with negligible loss, and the ordinary positive-index branch is intended, then $n=+\sqrt{{\epsilon }_r{\mu }_r}$. If additionally ${\mu }_r\simeq 1$, then $n\simeq \sqrt{{\epsilon }_r}$. All these responses must be evaluated at the electromagnetic wave's frequency; a static relative permittivity cannot simply be substituted at an optical frequency. ^[ref]

With loss, use a complex index $\tilde{n}=n^{\prime }+i\kappa$ and explicitly fix the phase convention for complex amplitudes. For $E\propto \exp [i(kz-\omega t)]$ with $k=\tilde{n}\omega /c$, its wave amplitude has factor $\exp (-\kappa \omega z/c)$. A forward attenuating branch has $\kappa \ge 0$, while its wave phase is controlled by $n^{\prime }$. The complex relation ${\tilde{n}}^2={\epsilon }_r{\mu }_r$ alone leaves a choice of sign: the physical solution also needs causality and the appropriate radiation or decay condition. In negative-index media the physically selected real part can be negative. The positive square root is therefore not a universal rule for complex or negative-index media. Direction and polarization of an electromagnetic wave also matter in a plane wave in an anisotropic dielectric, for which one scalar index need not describe every propagation branch.

A prism minimum-deviation index measurement infers a transparent sample's relative refractive index from two angles: its known apex angle $A$ and the smallest deviation ${\delta }_{\min }$ of a selected spectral line. A spectrometer combines a source and slit, a collimator, a rotating optical prism table, and a viewing optical telescope with an angular readout. The collimator supplies a nearly parallel beam; the optical telescope locates its emergent direction. This turns an otherwise difficult measurement of the phase velocity of light into a measurement of angles.

For the symmetric path through a uniform optical prism, with the same external medium at both faces and positive refractive indices,The angles $i,e,r_1,r_2$ are measured from face normals. This is the minimum deviation relation, not a formula for an arbitrary prism orientation. An absolute refractive index additionally requires $n_{\mathrm{ext}}$.

For example, stipulate $A=60^{\circ }$ and $n_{\mathrm{rel}}=3/2$. Then $i=e=\arcsin (3/4)\simeq 48.5904^{\circ }$ and ${\delta }_{\min }\simeq 37.1808^{\circ }$. Substitution recovers $n_{\mathrm{rel}}=1.5$. These synthetic values illustrate the geometry; they are not readings for the prism in the laboratory protocol below.

A Michigan State University teaching experiment uses a mercury lamp, slit, collimator, prism table and optical telescope, with a subsidiary angular scale read to one arcminute. First focus the optical telescope on a distant object; with the prism removed, align its crosshair to a narrow vertical slit image, focus the collimator, and establish the direct-beam zero. Insert and centre the prism. Select the green mercury spectral line, tabulated at $546.1\mathrm{nm}$, then rotate the prism while tracking its image with the optical telescope. Locate the turning point where continued prism rotation reverses the image motion, and read the deviation. Re-establish the minimum separately for each other spectral line. The protocol assumes $A=60^{\circ }$; that assumed apex angle is not an independently measured result. ^[ref]

For an uncertainty-aware implementation, repeat the turning-point search from both prism-rotation directions, recheck the direct-beam reference, and record individual readings before averaging. Independently determine $A$ or include its calibration uncertainty; record the chosen spectral line, sample identity, temperature and surrounding-air conditions. These are proposed controls deduced from the inference, not claimed additional instructions or results of that manual. Finite slit width, unresolved spectral lines, imperfect collimation, table tilt, angular calibration and sample nonuniformity can limit the inferred refractive index. One arcminute readout resolution alone does not establish one arcminute total measurement uncertainty. A single selected wavelength gives one index, not a measured optical dispersion curve.

A short geometric derivation uses $r_1+r_2=A$ and $\delta =i+e-A$. Reversibility exchanges entrance and exit. At the symmetric stationary path, $i=e$ and $r_1=r_2$; applying Snell's law gives the displayed index relation. The plotted calculation checks that this stationary point is a minimum on the chosen transmitting branch. To assess local sensitivity, differentiate the inferred index using angles in radians:This first-order relation exposes both angular contributions; it is not an instruction to add signed systematic errors as independent random errors. In the synthetic example, a deviation error of $+1$ arcminute at fixed $A$ changes the inferred relative refractive index by approximately $+1.92\times 10^{-4}$.

A transverse electric polarization with constant permeability and conserved transverse wavenumber $k_0\sin {\theta }_0$ satisfies $e^{\prime \prime }+[{\beta }^2-({\nu }^2-1/4)/(z-z_0{)}^2]e=0$, with ${\beta }^2=k_0^2(a^2-{\sin }^2{\theta }_0)$ and ${\nu }^2=1/4+k_0^2{b}^2$. Substitution $e=\sqrt{|z-z_0|}{Z}_{\nu }(\beta |z-z_0|)$ reduces it to the Bessel equation. The profile is singular at $z_0$, so each side requires its own boundary conditions.

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.

A monochromatic vacuum plane electromagnetic wave has phase $\mathbf{k}\cdot \mathbf{r}-\omega t$, where $\mathbf{k}$ is the wavevector, $\omega >0$ the angular frequency, and $\omega =c|\mathbf{k}|$. Its field amplitudes obey $\mathbf{k}\cdot {\mathbf{E}}_0=\mathbf{k}\cdot {\mathbf{B}}_0=0$ and ${\mathbf{B}}_0=\mathbf{k}\times {\mathbf{E}}_0/\omega$.

For the linear polarization and orientation in the visualization, choose a right-handed Cartesian coordinate system and putConstant phase means $z=ct+\text{constant}$, so propagation is along $+z$. The cross product $\hat{\mathbf{x}}\times \hat{\mathbf{y}}=\hat{\mathbf{z}}$ fixes the positive Poynting vector. Both fields reverse together every half-period and are in phase. Reversing the propagation direction with the same electric orientation reverses the magnetic orientation.

These fields are spatially uniform across every transverse plane. An infinite plane electromagnetic wave is an idealization with infinite total electromagnetic energy; it is useful as a local approximation and as a building block for superposition. For frequency $f=100\mathrm{MHz}$, $\omega =2\pi f$ and wavelength $\lambda =c/f\simeq 3.00\mathrm{m}$, independently of $E_0$.

For a source-free plane electromagnetic wave in vacuum, let $n^{\mu }=(1,\mathbf{s})$ be its null propagation Lorentz four-vector. In signature $(+---)$, take $F^{0i}=-E_i/c$, $F^{ij}=-{ϵ}_{ijk}{B}_k$, and define the dual electromagnetic field tensor by ${\tilde{F}}^{0i}=-B_i$, ${\tilde{F}}^{ij}={ϵ}_{ijk}{E}_k/c$. Lower both indices with the Minkowski metric. Direct contraction givesBoth contractions vanish exactly when the transverse plane electromagnetic wave Maxwell equations hold. Being zero covectors, they remain zero in every inertial frame. Thus the transformed spatial wavevector is perpendicular to both transformed fields, even though the separate three-dimensional dot products are not themselves Lorentz scalars for arbitrary fields.

One contraction alone is insufficient without the other Maxwell equations. In particular, adding a magnetic field parallel to $\mathbf{s}$ leaves $n^{\mu }{F}_{\mu \nu }$ unchanged but violates $\mathbf{s}\cdot \mathbf{B}=0$. Conversely the two scalar perpendicularity conditions alone do not impose the required relation $\mathbf{B}=\mathbf{s}\times \mathbf{E}/c$ between field strengths and directions.

The polarization of an electromagnetic wave describes the path traced by its transverse electric-field vector at a fixed point. A monochromatic wave may be linearly, circularly, or elliptically polarized; in vacuum it has two independent transverse polarization states.

This specializes polarization of waves to electric-field oscillations.

For a vacuum plane electromagnetic wave, a Lorentz boost multiplies both transverse Jones vector amplitudes by the same positive Doppler factor when the basis is carried to the aberrated ray. Their ratio and phase difference therefore remain unchanged. All Stokes parameters gain the same squared factor, leaving normalized parameters, ellipse shape, handedness and degree of polarization unchanged. This does not mean the propagation direction or the components in an arbitrarily fixed pair of spatial axes remain unchanged.

The Faraday effect is magnetic field-induced circular birefringence: opposite circular polarizations acquire different wave phases, rotating transmitted linear polarization. For a transparent medium with isotropy before applying the magnetic field, in the linear magnetic-response regime at fixed vacuum wavelength ${\lambda }_0$ and temperature $T$,Here $V$ is the Verdet constant, $L$ is the material path length, and $B_{\parallel }$ is the applied magnetic flux density component along the ray. This $\mathbf{B}$ is the external bias, distinct from the oscillating magnetic field of the light itself. Michael Faraday discovered the effect in 1845.^[ref]

Fix the sign before using the formula. On the forward path choose a right-handed Cartesian coordinate system, propagation along $+z$, and measure $\theta$ from $+x$ toward $+y$ for the electric field's oscillation line. Positive $\theta$ is counterclockwise in the $x$-right, $y$-up end view seen from $z>0$, looking toward the source. Then $B_{\parallel }=B_z$ and positive $V$ means positive rotation for positive $B_z$. This convention differs from the clockwise-positive convention in optical rotation. A linear polarization line is unchanged by $180^{\circ }$; a measured orientation determines accumulated rotation only modulo $\pi$, unless continuity selects a branch.

For uniform $B_{\parallel }$, the formula reduces to $\theta =VBL$. Its appeal is that a weak change of refractive index becomes a visible change of orientation. Magnetic reversal measurement of Faraday rotation turns this into an inference of $V$ or of the magnetic field path integral. Faraday rotation on a round trip explains the directional behavior used by an optical isolator. In an astronomical cold plasma, the high-frequency limit instead leads to the rotation measure law $\theta =\mathrm{RM}{\lambda }_0^2$; that wavelength dependence is not a universal law for transparent solids.

The Verdet constant is the coefficient relating Faraday rotation to the magnetic flux density path integral. Its SI units are $\mathrm{rad}{\mathrm{T}}^{-1}{\mathrm{m}}^{-1}$. It depends on material, wavelength and temperature; a sign requires the stated viewing convention.^[ref]

The name commemorates Émile Verdet. For nonuniform material or temperature, use $\theta =\int V(\ell )B_{\parallel }(\ell )d\ell$ when the local scalar description remains valid. A single central magnetic field reading cannot generally replace this weighted integral. Strong additional linear birefringence or appreciable circular dichroism requires following the full polarization of an electromagnetic wave, rather than treating the output as merely a rotated line.