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In electrodynamics, linear polarization or plane polarization of electromagnetic radiation
Electromagnetic radiation

Electromagnetic radiation takes the form of wave propagation waves in a vacuum or in matter. EM radiation has an electric field and magnetic field component which oscillate in phase perpendicular to each other and to the direction of energy Wave propagation....
 is a confinement of the electric field
Electric field

In physics, the space surrounding an electric charge or in the presence of a time-varying magnetic field has a property called an electric field ....
 vector or magnetic field
Magnetic field

A magnetism field is a vector field which can exert a magnetic force on moving electric charges and on magnetic dipoles . When placed in a magnetic field, magnetic dipoles tend to align their axes parallel to the magnetic field....
 vector to a given plane along the direction of propagation. See polarization
Polarization

Polarization is a property of waves that describes the orientation of their oscillations. For transverse waves such as many electromagnetic waves, it describes the orientation of the oscillations in the plane perpendicular to the wave's direction of travel....
 for more information.

Historically, the orientation of a polarized electromagnetic wave has been defined in the optical regime by the orientation of the electric vector, and in the radio
Radio

Radio is the transmission of signals, by modulation of electromagnetic radiation with frequency below those of visible light.Electromagnetic radiation radio propagation by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space....
 regime, by the orientation of the magnetic vector.

classical
Classical physics

Classical physics is a general term used to describe the branches of physics based on principles developed before the rise of general theory of relativity and Quantum mechanics, usually including special theory of relativity....
 sinusoidal plane wave solution of the electromagnetic wave equation
Electromagnetic wave equation

The electromagnetic wave equation is a second-order partial differential equation that describes the propagation of electromagnetic waves through a Medium or in a vacuum....
 for the electric
Electric field

In physics, the space surrounding an electric charge or in the presence of a time-varying magnetic field has a property called an electric field ....
 and magnetic
Magnetic field

A magnetism field is a vector field which can exert a magnetic force on moving electric charges and on magnetic dipoles . When placed in a magnetic field, magnetic dipoles tend to align their axes parallel to the magnetic field....
 fields is (cgs units)

for the magnetic field, where k is the wavenumber
Wavenumber

Wavenumber in most physics sciences is a wave property inverse related to wavelength, having SI units of reciprocal metre . Wavenumber is the space analog of frequency, that is, it is the measurement of the number of repeating units of a propagating wave per unit of space....
,

is the angular frequency
Angular frequency

In physics , angular frequency ? is a scalar measure of rotation rate. Angular frequency is the magnitude of the vector quantity angular velocity....
 of the wave, and is the speed of light
Speed of light

The speed of light in an free space is an important physical constant usually written as c, with a value of 299,792,458 metres per second....
.

Here

is the amplitude
Amplitude

Amplitude is the magnitude of change in the oscillating variable, with each oscillation, within an oscillating system. For instance, sound waves are oscillations in atmospheric pressure and their amplitudes are proportional to the change in pressure during one oscillation....
 of the field and

is the Jones vector in the x-y plane.

The wave is linearly polarized when the phase angles are equal,

.

This represents a wave polarized at an angle with respect to the x axis.






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Encyclopedia


In electrodynamics, linear polarization or plane polarization of electromagnetic radiation
Electromagnetic radiation

Electromagnetic radiation takes the form of wave propagation waves in a vacuum or in matter. EM radiation has an electric field and magnetic field component which oscillate in phase perpendicular to each other and to the direction of energy Wave propagation....
 is a confinement of the electric field
Electric field

In physics, the space surrounding an electric charge or in the presence of a time-varying magnetic field has a property called an electric field ....
 vector or magnetic field
Magnetic field

A magnetism field is a vector field which can exert a magnetic force on moving electric charges and on magnetic dipoles . When placed in a magnetic field, magnetic dipoles tend to align their axes parallel to the magnetic field....
 vector to a given plane along the direction of propagation. See polarization
Polarization

Polarization is a property of waves that describes the orientation of their oscillations. For transverse waves such as many electromagnetic waves, it describes the orientation of the oscillations in the plane perpendicular to the wave's direction of travel....
 for more information.

Historically, the orientation of a polarized electromagnetic wave has been defined in the optical regime by the orientation of the electric vector, and in the radio
Radio

Radio is the transmission of signals, by modulation of electromagnetic radiation with frequency below those of visible light.Electromagnetic radiation radio propagation by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space....
 regime, by the orientation of the magnetic vector.

Mathematical description of linear polarization

The classical
Classical physics

Classical physics is a general term used to describe the branches of physics based on principles developed before the rise of general theory of relativity and Quantum mechanics, usually including special theory of relativity....
 sinusoidal plane wave solution of the electromagnetic wave equation
Electromagnetic wave equation

The electromagnetic wave equation is a second-order partial differential equation that describes the propagation of electromagnetic waves through a Medium or in a vacuum....
 for the electric
Electric field

In physics, the space surrounding an electric charge or in the presence of a time-varying magnetic field has a property called an electric field ....
 and magnetic
Magnetic field

A magnetism field is a vector field which can exert a magnetic force on moving electric charges and on magnetic dipoles . When placed in a magnetic field, magnetic dipoles tend to align their axes parallel to the magnetic field....
 fields is (cgs units)

for the magnetic field, where k is the wavenumber
Wavenumber

Wavenumber in most physics sciences is a wave property inverse related to wavelength, having SI units of reciprocal metre . Wavenumber is the space analog of frequency, that is, it is the measurement of the number of repeating units of a propagating wave per unit of space....
,

is the angular frequency
Angular frequency

In physics , angular frequency ? is a scalar measure of rotation rate. Angular frequency is the magnitude of the vector quantity angular velocity....
 of the wave, and is the speed of light
Speed of light

The speed of light in an free space is an important physical constant usually written as c, with a value of 299,792,458 metres per second....
.

Here

is the amplitude
Amplitude

Amplitude is the magnitude of change in the oscillating variable, with each oscillation, within an oscillating system. For instance, sound waves are oscillations in atmospheric pressure and their amplitudes are proportional to the change in pressure during one oscillation....
 of the field and

is the Jones vector in the x-y plane.

The wave is linearly polarized when the phase angles are equal,

.

This represents a wave polarized at an angle with respect to the x axis. In that case the Jones vector can be written

.

The state vectors for linear polarization in x or y are special cases of this state vector.

If unit vectors are defined such that

and

then the polarization state can written in the "x-y basis" as

.

See also


  • Polarization of classical electromagnetic waves
  • Polarization
    Polarization

    Polarization is a property of waves that describes the orientation of their oscillations. For transverse waves such as many electromagnetic waves, it describes the orientation of the oscillations in the plane perpendicular to the wave's direction of travel....
  • Circular polarization
    Circular polarization

    In electrodynamics, circular polarization of electromagnetic radiation is a polarization such that the tip of the electric field vector, at a fixed point in space, describes a circle as time progresses....
  • Elliptical polarization
    Elliptical polarization

    In electrodynamics, elliptical polarization is the polarization of electromagnetic radiation such that the tip of the electric field vector describes an ellipse in any fixed plane intersecting, and Surface normal to, the direction of propagation....