May 11, 2009

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.

2. (25%) When a plane polarized wave strikes an interface between two

materials whose macroscopic E & M properties are described by constants , and , , the wave will be partially reected and partially
refracted (see the gure). The amplitudes and phases of these two
waves depend on the angle of incidence and on the polarization of the
incident wave, as well as the above constants. If the polarization of
the incident wave is perpendicular to the plane of incidence then the
refracted waves amplitude E0 and the reected waves amplitude E0
are related to the incident waves amplitude E0 by the two Fresnel
formulas:
E0
2n cos i
=
,
E0
n cos i + n cos r
n cos i
E0
=
E0
n cos i +

cos r
cos r

where the refracted angle r is related to the incidence angle i by Snells

law. The incoming wave and the reected wave travel in the material

whose index of refraction is n = .

If the wave is polarized in the plane of incidence use the junction conditions to derive the Fresnel formulas.

3. (25%) A plane polarized wave traveling in a vacuum in the +z direction

of the form
E = E0 ei(kzwt)
is incident normally on a at homogeneous conducting surface. Assume
the conductor is a good conductor described by a conductivity with
1 and Re[] 1. Recall that is dened by J = E. The wave
inside the conductor can be found by simply dening a complex index
of refraction = 1 + i4/ and using the Fresnel formulas given in
Problem 2.
Recall that in any homogeneous material k = n /c. The reection
and transmission coecients are dened respectively as the ratio of the
time averages of the Poynting vectors of the reected and transmitted
waves to the incident wave:
c
Re[E] Re[H],
4
c
Re[E H ],
=
8 [ ]
n
c

=
Re
(E E ) k.
8

S =
< S >tave

(a) Evaluate the reection R and the transmission T coecients at

the junction and show that R + T = 1.
(b) Show that the transmitted waves amplitude exponentially decays
as it penetrates the conductor according to
|E (z)| = |E (0)|ez/ .
Evaluate delta as a function of and . Show
that for low frequencies such that 4/ >> 1 then c/ 2, the familiar
value for the skin depth.
(c) Show that the time average of the energy being transmitted into
the conductor is lost to I 2 R heat losses within the conductor,
i.e., show that the time average of Re[J]Re[E] integrated over 1
cm2 from z = 0 to z = in the conductor is equal to the time
averaged Poynting vector of the transmitted wave at z = 0. The
time average of Re[J]Re[E] is just Re[(J E )/2].

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|| >?