PHYS 5583 (E & M Ii) Final
PHYS 5583 (E & M Ii) Final
PHYS 5583 (E & M Ii) Final
PHYS 5583
(E & M II)
Final
1. (25%)
(a) Write down the four Maxwell equations.
(b) At the interface (junction) between two stationary ponderable materials, each of Maxwells equations gives a junction condition.
Give a simple expression for the junction condition that comes
from each Maxwell equation and use words to describe what it
says, e.g., the tangential part of the electric eld is discontinuous if the sun is shining. The words are as important as the
equations.
(c) If there is no surface charge or current on the junction between
the ponderable materials two of the junctions conditions simplify.
What, in words, are these two junction conditions now.
cos r
cos r
=
Re
(E E ) k.
8
S =
< S >tave
4. (25%) Assume the dielectric constant for a circularly polarized harmonic plane wave traveling in a plasma is
p2
() = 1
,
( B )
where the plasma frequency is related to the free electron density N0
by
4N0 e2
p2 =
me
and the cyclotron frequency is related to the component of the magnetic
induction parallel to the waves direction by
B =
eB||
.
me c
The upper sign is for left circularly polarized waves and the lower is for
right. Assume is not very close to B
(a) What happens to a plane wave if it inters a region where < 0
for either left or right circularly polarized waves?
(b) If > 0 for both polarizations at the frequency you are considering, what is the group velocity of a pulse of circularly polarized
wave, and which polarization travels faster, left or right circularly
polarized? Recall that the group velocity is related to the index
of refraction by
c
vg =
.
n + dn/d
If >> p the dierence in your group velocities should be
vp = c
2p2 B
.
( 2 B2 )2
(c) For this part assume >> p . If you know the distance R to a
source emitting pulses of polarized light, how would you use the
the arrival time dierences of right and left circularly polarized
wave packets to determine the average value of N0 B|| between
you and the source? Does the source have to emit a particular
polarization i.e., would right or left circularly polarized waves, or
plane polarized waves work? Explain. The arrival time depends
on an integral
R
dz
.
T () =
vg
0
Would you use frequencies much larger, much smaller, or almost
the same as B to measure < N0 B|| >?