## maxwell stress tensor

1. The problem statement, all variables and given/known data
find all elements of maxwell stress tensor for a monochromatic plane wave traveling in z direction and linearly polarized in x.

2. Relevant equations
Tij=$$\epsilon$$o(EiEj-(1/2)$$\delta$$ij E2+1/$$\mu$$o(BiBj-(1/2)$$\delta$$B2

3. The attempt at a solution
So i found what E and B is well not really important to my question but E =Eocos(KZ-wt) X direction
B=1/c Eocos(KZ-wt)Y direction

I have the solution, but kind of confused. They only found Txx Tyy Tzz why didnt they find Txy ext or is that wht it means by find all elements, just xx yy zz

So i found wht Txx is and I got TXX=1/2($$\epsilon$$oE2-B21/$$\mu$$o they got the same but than that = to zero. Why does it TXX= to zero? Same for Tyy

thanks
 PhysOrg.com science news on PhysOrg.com >> City-life changes blackbird personalities, study shows>> Origins of 'The Hoff' crab revealed (w/ Video)>> Older males make better fathers: Mature male beetles work harder, care less about female infidelity
 Recognitions: Gold Member Homework Help Your T_xx is correct. As for the off diagonal terms: Only one component of E and B are non zero. The cross terms in the tensor are all of the form: $$T_{ij}=\epsilon_0E_iE_j +\frac{1}{\mu_0}B_iB_j$$ with i=/=j Let's consider the x-y term. That is: $$T_{12}=T_{xy}=\epsilon_0E_xE_y +\frac{1}{\mu_0}B_xB_y$$ But, E_y and B_x are zero! Thus, T_xy is zero. Similarly all the other off diagonal elements are zero as well.
 o ok thanks for the info

 Similar discussions for: maxwell stress tensor Thread Forum Replies Advanced Physics Homework 3 Classical Physics 9 Advanced Physics Homework 0 Advanced Physics Homework 1 Introductory Physics Homework 0