Degrees of freedom of an electromagnetic wave

Rafael Piestun; David A. B. Miller

doi:10.1117/12.355035

19 July 1999 Degrees of freedom of an electromagnetic wave

Rafael Piestun, David A. B. Miller

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 3749, 18th Congress of the International Commission for Optics; (1999) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.355035
Event: ICO XVIII 18th Congress of the International Commission for Optics, 1999, San Francisco, CA, United States

Abstract

We present a rigorous formalism for evaluating the degrees of freedom (d.o.f.) in communication with electromagnetic waves. We show that, although in principle there is an infinity of d.o.f., the effective number is finite. This is in agreement with the restricted classical theories. We further show that the best transmitting functions are the solutions of a specific eigenvalue equation. The analysis is valid for electromagnetic waves under arbitrary boundary conditions communicating between domains in 3D space. The practical implications of this theory will be discussed.

Citation Download Citation

Rafael Piestun and David A. B. Miller "Degrees of freedom of an electromagnetic wave", Proc. SPIE 3749, 18th Congress of the International Commission for Optics, (19 July 1999); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.355035

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