Past exam of the optics and electrodynamics course of the University of Cambridge / 2018 / Section B / B3 / Radiation cuts and receiving polarization

The outgoing radiation field has magnitude $|E_{\theta }|=|\ddot{p}(t_r)|\sin \theta /(4\pi {ϵ}_0{c}^{2}r)$ and $B_{\varphi }=E_{\theta }/c$. The radial Poynting vector, averaged over one cycle, givesThus the $(x,z)$ cut has a two-lobed ${\sin }^2\theta$ shape, with zeros along $\pm z$ and maxima along $\pm x$. In the $(x,y)$ plane, $\theta =\pi /2$ throughout and the cut is a circle: there is no azimuthal dependence. At fixed direction the flux falls as $1/r^2$, while power per solid angle is independent of observation radius.

As a receiver for propagation along $x$, the antenna responds to the incident electric field component along $z$. For linear polarization at angle $\psi$ to $z$, the available load power is proportional to ${\cos }^2\psi$: it is maximal for $z$ polarization and zero for $y$ polarization. Equal incident intensity in circular $yz$ polarization gives half the matched-linear power. This polarization response follows from the induced voltage's projection along the dipole axis.