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comprise the plane with normal vector . Thus, the points of equal field value of always form a plane in space. This plane
then shifts with time , along the direction of propagation with velocity c.
The term is often used to mean the special case of a monochromatic, homogeneous plane wave. A monochromatic or sine, plane
wave is one in which the amplitude is a sinusoidal function of and . A homogeneous plane wave is one in which the planes of
constant phase are perpendicular to the direction of propagation .
It is not possible in practice to have a true plane wave because it would have to fill all space and thus would require infinite energy;
only a plane wave of infinite extent will propagate as a plane wave. The plane wave model is important and widely used in physics
because at a sufficiently great distance, the waves emitted by any localized (limited size) source are approximately plane waves when
viewed over a sufficiently small area. For example the light waves from a distant star, or the radio waves received from a distant
antenna in its far-field region, are often modeled as plane waves because the receiving device, a telescope or antenna, is small enough
that within its aperture the curvature of the wavefront, and thus its departure from planarity
, is negligible.
Contents
Mathematical representations
Arbitrary direction
Complex exponential form
Applications
Polarized electromagnetic plane waves
See also
References
Mathematical representations
A monochromatic or harmonic plane wave is one which has a single frequency, and thus the variation of amplitude is sinusoidal,
represented by a sine or cosine function. A harmonic plane wave traveling to the right along the x-axis can be represented by the
equation
In the above equation:
Arbitrary direction
The more general form below represents a plane wave traveling in an
arbitrary direction. It uses vectors in combination with the vector dot Animation of a 3D plane wave. Each color
product. represents a different phase of the wave.
here:
is the wave vector, which is a vector with a length equal to the wavenumber in a direction perpendicular to the
wavefronts. This means that, . The direction of the wave vector is ordinarily that direction which
the plane wave is traveling, but it can differ in an anisotropic medium.[1]
is the vector dot product.
is the position vector which defines a point in three-dimensional space.
This equation gives the amplitude function as a complex number; in order to get the actual amplitude the real part of the
number is taken
To appreciate this equation’s relationship to the earlier ones, below is this same equation expressed using sines and cosines. Observe
that the first term equals the real form of the plane wave just discussed.
The introduced complex form of the plane wave can be simplified by using a complex-valued amplitude substitute the real
valued amplitude .
Specifically, since the complex form
equals
one can absorb the phase factor into a complex amplitude by letting , resulting in the more compact equation
While the complex form has an imaginary component, after the necessary calculations are performed in the complex plane, its real
value can be extracted giving a real valued equation representing an actual plane wave.
The main reason one would choose to work with complex exponential form of plane waves is that complex exponentials are often
algebraically easier to handle than the trigonometric sines and cosines. Specifically, the angle-addition rules are extremely simple for
exponentials.
Additionally, when using Fourier analysis techniques for waves in a lossy medium, the resulting attenuation is easier to deal with
using complex Fourier coefficients. It should be noted however that if a wave is traveling through a lossy medium, the amplitude of
the wave is no longer constant, and therefore the wave is strictly speaking no longer a true plane wave.
In quantum mechanics the solutions of the Schrödinger wave equation are by their very nature complex-valued and in the simplest
instance take a form identical to the complex plane wave representation above. The imaginary component in that instance however
has not been introduced for the purpose of mathematical expediency but is in fact an inherent part of the “wave”.
In special relativity, one can utilize an even more compact expression by usingfour-vectors.
The four-position
The four-wavevector
Thus,
becomes
Applications
These waves are solutions for a scalar wave equation in a homogeneous medium. For vector wave equations, such as the ones
describing electromagnetic radiation or waves in an elastic solid, the solution for a homogeneous medium is similar: the scalar
amplitude Ao is replaced by a constant vector Ao. For example, in electromagnetism Ao is typically the vector for the electric field,
magnetic field, or vector potential. A transverse wave is one in which the amplitude vector is orthogonal to k, which is the case for
electromagnetic waves in an isotropic medium. By contrast, a longitudinal wave is one in which the amplitude vector is parallel to k,
such as for acoustic waves in a gas or fluid.
The plane-wave equation works for arbitrary combinations of ω and k, but any real physical medium will only allow such waves to
propagate for those combinations of ω and k that satisfy the dispersion relation of the medium. The dispersion relation is often
expressed as a function, ω(k). The ratio ω/|k| gives the magnitude of the phase velocity and dω/dk gives the group velocity. For
electromagnetism in an isotropic medium with index of refraction n, the phase velocity is c/n, which equals the group velocity if the
index is not frequency-dependent.
In linear uniform media, a wave solution can be expressed as a superposition of plane waves. This approach is known as the Angular
spectrum method. The form of the planewave solution is actually a general consequence of translational symmetry. More generally,
for periodic structures having discrete translational symmetry, the solutions take the form of Bloch waves, most famously in
crystalline atomic materials but also in photonic crystals and other periodic wave equations. As another generalization, for structures
that are only uniform along one direction x (such as a waveguide along the x direction), the solutions (waveguide modes) are of the
form exp[i(kx-ωt)] multiplied by some amplitude functiona(y,z). This is a special case of aseparable partial differential equation.
Represented in the second illustration is a circularly polarized, electromagnetic plane wave. Each blue vector indicating the
perpendicular displacement from a point on the axis out to the helix, also represents the magnitude and direction of the electric field
for an entire plane perpendicular to the axis.
In both illustrations, along the axes is a series of shorter blue vectors which are scaled down versions of the longer blue vectors.
These shorter blue vectors are extrapolated out into the block of black vectors which fill a volume of space. Notice that for a given
plane, the black vectors are identical, indicating that the magnitude and direction of the electric field is constant along that plane.
In the case of the linearly polarized light, the field strength from plane to plane varies from a maximum in one direction, down to
zero, and then back up to a maximum in the opposite direction.
In the case of the circularly polarized
light, the field strength remains constant
from plane to plane but its direction
steadily changes in a rotary type
manner.
See also
Angular spectrum method
Plane waves in a vacuum
Plane wave expansion
Rectilinear propagation
Wave equation
References
1. This Wikipedia section has
references. Wave
vector#Direction of the wave Circularly polarized light
vector The blocks of vectors represent how the magnitude and direction of the
electric field is constant for an entire plane perpendicular to the direction of
J. D. Jackson, Classical
Electrodynamics (Wiley: New travel.
York, 1998).
L. M. Brekhovskikh, "Waves in
Layered Media, Series:Applied Mathematics and Mechanics, oVl. 16, (Academic Press, 1980).
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