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The source-free Maxwell equations in a linear medium areHere the constitutive relations are $\mathbf{D}=\epsilon \mathbf{E}$ and $\mathbf{B}=\mu \mathbf{H}$.

Substitution of the sinusoidal plane waves into the two divergence equations gives the transversality of an electromagnetic plane wave,Faraday's law and the Ampère-Maxwell equation give, respectively,Taking $\mathbf{k}\times$ the first equation and using transversality yieldsThus a nonzero plane electromagnetic wave in a linear medium must satisfyIn particular, ${\mathbf{E}}_0$, ${\mathbf{B}}_0$, and $\mathbf{k}$ are mutually orthogonal, with $|{\mathbf{B}}_0|=\sqrt{\mu \epsilon }|{\mathbf{E}}_0|$.

Take the interface to be $x=0$ and the plane of incidence to be the $xy$-plane. The incident, reflected, and transmitted wavevectors may be writtenThe phase matching at a planar wave interface requires one common angular frequency and one common tangential wavevector:Since $k_{\pm }=\omega \sqrt{{\epsilon }_{\pm }\mu }=n_{\pm }\omega /c$, this gives the Snell law for electromagnetic waves,

For the final polarization, take the signed electric amplitudes along $\hat{\mathbf{z}}$. The dielectric-interface boundary conditions require continuity of tangential $\mathbf{E}$ and $\mathbf{H}$. Sincetheir $z$- and $y$-components giveandEliminating $E_I$ yieldsUsing ${\theta }_R={\theta }_I$ and Snell's law,Therefore the reflected-to-transmitted transverse-electric amplitude ratio iswith the polarization directions chosen so that the displayed signed factor is nonnegative; otherwise its absolute value gives the magnitude ratio.

The condition ${\mathbf{E}}_I\cdot \hat{\mathbf{x}}=0$, together with transversality ${\mathbf{k}}_I\cdot {\mathbf{E}}_I=0$, selects polarization along $\hat{\mathbf{y}}$ away from the normal-incidence degeneracy. Phase matching at a planar wave interface givesThe two dispersion relations give $|{\mathbf{k}}_T{|}^2=({\epsilon }_{+}/{\epsilon }_{-})k_I^2$. Choosing propagation into $x>0$ therefore yieldsEquivalently, this is Snell law for electromagnetic waves with refractive index proportional to $\sqrt{\epsilon }$ because the two media have equal magnetic permeability.

For each $X\in \{I,R,T\}$, substitution of a complex plane electromagnetic wave in a linear medium into the source-free Maxwell equations in a linear medium requireswhere ${\epsilon }_I={\epsilon }_R={\epsilon }_{-}$ and ${\epsilon }_T={\epsilon }_{+}$. The accompanying magnetic field isThe incident and transmitted waves have $k_{Ix}>0$ and $k_{Tx}>0$, while the reflected wave has $k_{Rx}<0$. Matching the fields at the stationary interface additionally imposes the phase matching at a planar wave interface conditions ${\omega }_I={\omega }_R={\omega }_T$ and equality of all tangential wavevector components.

Choose the interface as $x=0$ and write the incident, reflected, and transmitted fields as plane waves with wavevectors $k_I,k_R,k_T$. The boundary conditions must hold for every tangential coordinate and every time. The phase matching at a planar wave interface therefore requiresand equality of tangential wavevectors:

The incident and reflected waves are in the same medium, so
$|k_I|=|k_R|$. Equality of their tangential components giveshence

At fixed frequency, $|k_{\pm }|=\omega /v_{\pm }$ is proportional to the refractive index $n_{\pm }$. Tangential phase matching between incident and transmitted waves gives the Snell law for electromagnetic waves:orHere $n_{\pm }=c/v_{\pm }=c\sqrt{{ϵ}_{\pm }\mu }$ if the vacuum speed $c$ is used to normalize the index.