Boundary conditions for TM and TE waves

3 replies · 2K views · last reply
LCSphysicist
Messages
644
Reaction score
163
TL;DR
I am reading about transverse polarization of magnetic and electric field, but i can not understand the boundary conditions it was imposed by the author
Set of boundary condition equations for TE and TM polarization, with TE equations E + E' = E'', -H cos θ + H' cos θ = -H'' cos φ, -kE cos θ + k'E' cos θ = -k''E'' cos φ, and TM equations H - H' = H'', kE - k'E' = k''E'', and E cos θ + E' cos θ = E'' cos φ.

Theta in the incident angle
Phi is the refraction angle
'' denotes everything that propagates to the other medium, that is, everything related to refraction
' denotes the reflection in the original medium

I am rather confused, would appreciate any help.
I see the second equation of TE is basically the same as the third equation of it.
Too, i see that the first equation of TM is equal to the second equation of it.
 
If this is the standard derivation of the Fresnel formulae for reflection and refraction of a monochromatic em. wave then indeed you only need to deal with the magnetic field, because the magnetic field is given by the electric through ##\vec{B}=\frac{1}{c_j} \vec{n} \times \vec{E}##, where ##c_j## (##j \in \{1,2\}##) is the phase velocity of light ##c_j=c/n_j## in medium ##j## and ##\vec{n}## the direction of the wave vector of the corresponding plane waves describing the incoming, reflected, and refracted wave respectively.
 
  • Like
Likes   Reactions: LCSphysicist
vanhees71 said:
If this is the standard derivation of the Fresnel formulae for reflection and refraction of a monochromatic em. wave then indeed you only need to deal with the magnetic field, because the magnetic field is given by the electric through ##\vec{B}=\frac{1}{c_j} \vec{n} \times \vec{E}##, where ##c_j## (##j \in \{1,2\}##) is the phase velocity of light ##c_j=c/n_j## in medium ##j## and ##\vec{n}## the direction of the wave vector of the corresponding plane waves describing the incoming, reflected, and refracted wave respectively.
Hello. Thx for the reply. I understand your point, what i don't understand is how to get this equations. That is, what is the math behind it?

If it was give to me, i would probably say that E and H need to be continuous in the separation(1) with the derivative being continuous too(2).

(1) for E agree with the image, but what about B? Why the minus sign there? (H-H' = H'')
(2)It would lead us, for example for TE, (-Ek + E'k' = E''k''), but in the image there is a cos with this equation, why?
 
The math behind it are of course Maxwell's equations for all fields having time dependence ##\exp(-\mathrm{i} \omega t)##. You find the derivation in any good textbook on electrodynamics and/or optics.