Paper 4, Section I, 5D5 \mathrm{D}

Electromagnetism | Part IB, 2021

Write down Maxwell's equations in a vacuum. Show that they admit wave solutions with

B(x,t)=Re⁡[B0ei(k⋅x−ωt)]\mathbf{B}(\mathbf{x}, t)=\operatorname{Re}\left[\mathbf{B}_{0} e^{i(\mathbf{k} \cdot \mathbf{x}-\omega t)}\right]

where B0,k\mathbf{B}_{0}, \mathbf{k} and ω\omega must obey certain conditions that you should determine. Find the corresponding electric field E(x,t)\mathbf{E}(\mathbf{x}, t).

A light wave, travelling in the xx-direction and linearly polarised so that the magnetic field points in the zz-direction, is incident upon a conductor that occupies the half-space x>0x>0. The electric and magnetic fields obey the boundary conditions E×n=0\mathbf{E} \times \mathbf{n}=\mathbf{0} and B⋅n=0\mathbf{B} \cdot \mathbf{n}=0 on the surface of the conductor, where n\mathbf{n} is the unit normal vector. Determine the contributions to the magnetic field from the incident and reflected waves in the region x⩽0x \leqslant 0. Compute the magnetic field tangential to the surface of the conductor.

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