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Effective permittivity. Use peak phasors with time dependence $e^{-i\omega t}$. The Ampere-Maxwell law isThe conductive contribution to complex permittivity is thereforeHere ${ϵ}^{\prime }$ is the source's effective relative permittivity, not just the real part of a complex response. The positive imaginary term is the loss sign appropriate to this time convention.

The penetrating electric wave. Combine this equation with Faraday's law of induction. In a uniform source-free medium the transverse phasor satisfiesFor a good conductor of electrical conductivity $\sigma$, $\sigma \gg \omega ϵ{\epsilon }_0$, so $k^2\simeq i{\mu }_0\sigma \omega$. The root which decays into $z>0$ isChoose the surface phasor amplitude $E_0$ real. Taking the real part of ${\tilde{E}}_x=E_0{e}^{ikz}$ givesThe skin depth $\delta$ is an amplitude-decay distance in metres.

The magnetic wave and phase. The curl of an $x$-polarized field varying in $z$ is in the $y$ direction. Since $\nabla \times \tilde{\mathbf{E}}=i\omega {\mu }_0\tilde{\mathbf{H}}$,ThusThe phase sign follows the specified convention. Equivalently the surface impedance of a good conductor is $E_x/H_y=(1-i)/(\sigma \delta )$.

How the fields differ from those in vacuum. The two metal fields have the same exponential envelope and spatial period $2\pi \delta$, but their phase arguments differ by $\pi /4$.

An individual travelling wave in the lossless exterior has no attenuation, real wave impedance and in-phase electric and magnetic fields. The exterior total field also includes the reflected wave and may show interference, so it need not share that simple phase relation everywhere. At the interface the tangential fields match; $E_0$ is the field just inside the metal, not necessarily the incident amplitude. A good conductor reflects strongly and its wave impedance is much smaller than the vacuum impedance.

Average inward energy flux. For peak phasors, the Poynting vector averaged over a cycle is $⟨\mathbf{S}⟩=\mathrm{Re}(\tilde{\mathbf{E}}\times {\tilde{\mathbf{H}}}^{\ast })/2$. The fields giveConsequently the constant in the question isThe flux is in the $+z$ direction and has units $\mathrm{W}{\mathrm{m}}^{-2}$.

Local energy conservation. The Poynting flux and local heating in a skin layer satisfyThe decrease becomes Joule heating in each layer. The Poynting theorem includes this transfer from field energy to the metal; averaged electromagnetic energy storage has zero time derivative in the periodic state, so no energy is lost from the complete balance.

For a good conductor with surface electric-field peak amplitude $E_0$, the surface impedance of a good conductor gives the displayed time-averaged Poynting vector component into the conductor. The factor one half in $⟨\mathbf{S}⟩=\mathrm{Re}(\mathbf{E}\times {\mathbf{H}}^{\ast })/2$ is required for peak phasors. Its loss with depth obeys $-d⟨S_z⟩/dz=\sigma E_0^2{e}^{-2z/\delta }/2=⟨\mathbf{j}\cdot \mathbf{E}⟩$. Electromagnetic energy becomes Joule heating locally; averaged field-energy storage has zero time derivative.