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(kxωt)]\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 Bn=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 x0x \leqslant 0. Compute the magnetic field tangential to the surface of the conductor.

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