Free propagation is convolution with a chirp, . The convolution theorem therefore turns it into multiplication by its Fourier transform. Complete the square:The Gaussian integral then givesThus the wavevector-dependent phase isup to an overall phase convention; after removing the carrier it is . This also follows from .
Normalization qualification: the source keeps a two-dimensional-style prefactor while integrating over only one transverse coordinate. With its literal , there is an additional -independent factor, rather than solely a unit-modulus multiplier. A properly normalized one-dimensional Fresnel propagator has , which cancels the square-root factor above and makes propagation a pure Fourier-domain phase. For example, the literal source kernel multiplies a plane-wave Fourier mode by a factor of magnitude , not one. The spatially dependent phase and the proportional Fourier-transform results remain unchanged. [ref]
Oscillations and Waves by Richard Fitzpatrick. Wave optics, two-dimensional Fourier optics: optical-path expansion and Fourier-domain diffraction
Past exam of the physics B course of the University of Cambridge 2016 Paper 1 Section A A3 Solution 2026-10-20
Use a cold, unmagnetized, collisionless plasma with a sharp interface, and take the incident medium to be vacuum. Its relative permittivity is , so at the stated frequencies . Conservation of tangential wavenumber givesFor oblique total reflection at an unmagnetized plasma, require , or . Thus total reflection occurs for measured from the normal, up to grazing incidence. At the ideal critical angle the transmitted normal energy flux also vanishes, so the lossless reflectance reaches unity there. Collisions or an imposed magnetic field change this simple criterion. The constitutive response used here follows the electron-motion derivation in the cited university notes.[ref]
Oscillations and Waves by Richard Fitzpatrick. Section 9.7, equations 9.27–9.30, unmagnetized-plasma dispersion and refractive index
Past exam of the physics B course of the University of Cambridge 2016 Paper 1 Section B B8 Solution 2026-10-20
Use peak phasors with time dependence , real positive electrical conductivity , and absolute permeability . Ampère-Maxwell equation and Faraday equations giveso . The sign of the imaginary term follows from the stated time convention. For a transverse plane wave in a homogeneous conductor,In the good-conductor limit, choose the root that decays into :The electric phasor and physical field are consequently and , as required. Tangential boundary matching sets ; it need not equal the incident amplitude.
Faraday's law fixes the magnetic field, including its phase:For real and , this means , with other components zero. The time-averaged Poynting vector isThe energy entering a thin slab exceeds that leaving it by per unit volume, givingDirectly, and at each time. Therefore is exactly this loss. The factors one half use peak rather than root mean square phasors; amplitude decays over , while intensity decays over .
For a cold collisionless unmagnetized plasma, electron inertia gives and real . Above the plasma frequency the wave propagates without this resistive attenuation. Below it, a semi-infinite plasma supports an evanescent field with electric and magnetic components in quadrature and zero mean inward energy flux: the incident energy is reflected, not absorbed as Joule heating. electron kinetic energy is reversibly stored, so the nondispersive dielectric field-energy formula alone is incomplete. Collisions introduce a real dissipative electrical conductivity and can produce absorption.[ref]
Oscillations and Waves by Richard Fitzpatrick. Section 9.7, equations 9.36–9.53, evanescence, phase quadrature and unit reflectance