Plane Waves
The plane sinusoidal solution for an electromagnetic wave traveling in the z direction is (cgs units and SI units)
for the electric field and
for the magnetic field, where k is the wavenumber,
is the angular frequency of the wave, and is the speed of light. The hats on the vectors indicate unit vectors in the x, y, and z directions.
The plane wave is parameterized by the amplitudes
and phases
where
- .
and
- .
Read more about this topic: Sinusoidal Plane-wave Solutions Of The Electromagnetic Wave Equation
Famous quotes containing the words plane and/or waves:
“At the moment when a man openly makes known his difference of opinion from a well-known party leader, the whole world thinks that he must be angry with the latter. Sometimes, however, he is just on the point of ceasing to be angry with him. He ventures to put himself on the same plane as his opponent, and is free from the tortures of suppressed envy.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)
“There is no sea more dangerous than the ocean of practical politics—none in which there is more need of good pilotage and of a single, unfaltering purpose when the waves rise high.”
—Thomas Henry Huxley (1825–1895)