Paper 3, Section II, C

Electromagnetism | Part IB, 2010

Write down Maxwell's equations in a region with no charges and no currents. Show that if E(x,t)\mathbf{E}(\mathbf{x}, t) and B(x,t)\mathbf{B}(\mathbf{x}, t) is a solution then so is E~(x,t)=cB(x,t)\widetilde{\mathbf{E}}(\mathbf{x}, t)=c \mathbf{B}(\mathbf{x}, t) and B~(x,t)=E(x,t)/c\widetilde{\mathbf{B}}(\mathbf{x}, t)=-\mathbf{E}(\mathbf{x}, t) / c. Write down the boundary conditions on E\mathbf{E} and B\mathbf{B} at the boundary with unit normal n\mathbf{n} between a perfect conductor and a vacuum.

Electromagnetic waves propagate inside a tube of perfectly conducting material. The tube's axis is in the zz-direction, and it is surrounded by a vacuum. The fields may be taken to be the real parts of

E(x,t)=e(x,y)ei(kzωt),B(x,t)=b(x,y)ei(kzωt)\mathbf{E}(\mathbf{x}, t)=\mathbf{e}(x, y) e^{i(k z-\omega t)}, \quad \mathbf{B}(\mathbf{x}, t)=\mathbf{b}(x, y) e^{i(k z-\omega t)}

Write down Maxwell's equations in terms of e,b,k\mathbf{e}, \mathbf{b}, k and ω\omega.

Suppose first that bz(x,y)=0b_{z}(x, y)=0. Show that the solution is determined by

e=(ψx,ψy,ik[1ω2k2c2]ψ)\mathbf{e}=\left(\frac{\partial \psi}{\partial x}, \frac{\partial \psi}{\partial y}, i k\left[1-\frac{\omega^{2}}{k^{2} c^{2}}\right] \psi\right)

where the function ψ(x,y)\psi(x, y) satisfies

2ψx2+2ψy2+γ2ψ=0\frac{\partial^{2} \psi}{\partial x^{2}}+\frac{\partial^{2} \psi}{\partial y^{2}}+\gamma^{2} \psi=0

and ψ\psi vanishes on the boundary of the tube. Here γ2\gamma^{2} is a constant whose value should be determined.

Obtain a similar condition for the case where ez(x,y)=0e_{z}(x, y)=0. [You may find it useful to use a result from the first paragraph.] What is the corresponding boundary condition?

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