Abstract
This chapter presents a detailed introduction to a fundamental non-geometrical symmetry of electromagnetic fields: electromagnetic duality. This symmetry appears in free-space Maxwell equations which remain invariant under the exchange of electric and magnetic fields E → H and H → - E. More generally, they also remain invariant under certain parametric combinations of the electric and magnetic vector fields of which the exchange referred to before is a particular case. This continuous symmetry is called electromagnetic duality. The conserved quantity related to electromagnetic duality is the optical helicity. The chapter also presents a detailed account of the fundamental properties of both electromagnetic duality and optical helicity and how to use and measure them in photonics experiments.
Original language | English |
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Title of host publication | Fundamentals of Photonics and Physics |
Editors | David L. Andrews |
Place of Publication | Hoboken, New Jersey |
Publisher | John Wiley & Sons |
Pages | 341-362 |
Number of pages | 22 |
Volume | 1 |
ISBN (Electronic) | 9781119009719 |
ISBN (Print) | 9781118225530 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 16 Jan 2015 |
Keywords
- Electromagnetic duality
- Maxwell equations
- Optical helicity
- Photonics experiments