The Short Electric Dipole

Any linear antenna may be considered as consisting of a large number of very short conductors connected in series

A short linear conductor is often called a short dipole

L<<λ

Plates at the ends of the dipole provide capacitive loading

Uniform current I along the entire length L of the dipole

The diameter d of the dipole is small compared to its length (d<<L)

The current and charge are related by dq/dt = I

The Fields of a Short
Dipole
To find the fields every where around a short dipole

Dipole of length L be placed coincident with the z axis and with its center
at the origin

Shown are relation of the electric field components, Er , Eθ and Eφ

The propagation time is a matter of great importance

The effect of the current is not felt instantaneously at the point P

(Retardation effect)
[I]=I0ejω[t−(r/c)] (Similar to I = I0ejωt )
[I] - The retarded current
r/c – The retardation time (t)
(Phase retardation ωr/c = 2πfr/c radians
= 360°fr/c
= 360°t/T,
where T = 1/f = time of one period or cycle (seconds) and
f = frequency (hertz, Hz=cycles per second)

The disturbance at a time t and at a distance r from a current element is caused by a current [I] that occurred at
an earlier time t −r/c.

The time difference r/c is the interval required for the disturbance to travel the distance r, where c is the velocity
of light (=300 Mm s−1)
Electric and magnetic fields can be expressed in terms of vector and scalar potentials.
Both Near and Far fields (in terms of λ’s) are of interest (thus we must use retarded potentials - expressions involving t −r/c)

The retarded vector potential of the electric current has only one
component, namely, Az
Az = μ0/4π

Where [I] is the retarded current given by [I]=I0ejω[t−(s/c)]

z = distance to a point on the conductor

I0 = peak value in time of current (uniform along dipole)
μ0 = permeability of free space = 4π ×10−7 Hm−1
If r>>L and if the λ>>L), we can put s = r and neglect the phase
differences of the field contributions from different parts of the wire
The retarded scalar potential V of a charge distribution is

[ρ] - Retarded charge density,

dτ - Infinitesimal volume element

ε0 = permittivity or dielectric constant of free space = 8.85×10−12 Fm−1
The region of charge in the case of the dipole being considered is confined to the points at the ends

WKT, dq/dt = I and [I]=I0ejω[t−(r/c)]

From the diagram,

The retarded scalar potential V of a charge distribution is