Plane of polarization: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 18:34, 5 March 2023

Revision as of 07:51, 3 November 2023

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Because innumerable materials are [[dielectric]]s or [[electrical conductor|conductors]] while comparatively few are [[ferromagnetism|ferromagnets]], the [[reflection (physics)|reflection]] or [[refraction]] of EM waves (including [[light]]) is more often due to differences in the ''electric'' properties of media than to differences in their magnetic properties. That circumstance tends to draw attention to the ''electric'' vectors, so that we tend to think of the direction of polarization as the direction of the electric vectors, and the "plane of polarization" as the plane containing the electric vectors and the direction of propagation.

[[File:Screen dish antenna.jpg|thumb|left|'''Fig.{{nnbsp}}3''':{{big| }}Vertically- polarized parabolic-grid [[microwave]] antenna. In this case the stated polarization refers to the alignment of the electric ('''E''') field, hence the alignment of the closely spaced metal ribs in the reflector.]]

Indeed, that is the convention used in the online ''Encyclopædia Britannica'',{{r|luntz}} and in [[Richard Feynman|Feynman]]'s lecture on polarization.{{r|feynman-1963}} In the latter case one must infer the convention from the context: Feynman keeps emphasizing the direction of the ''electric'' ('''E''') vector and leaves the reader to presume that the "plane of polarization" contains that vector — and this interpretation indeed fits the examples he gives. The same vector is used to describe the polarization of radio signals and [[antenna (radio)#Polarization|antennas]] (Fig.{{nnbsp}}3).<ref name="auto">Stratton, 1941, p.{{hsp}}280.</ref>

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* B. Powell (July&nbsp;1856), [https://archive.org/stream/s4philosophicalmag12londuoft#page/n13/mode/2up "On the demonstration of Fresnel's formulas for reflected and refracted light; and their applications"], ''Philosophical Magazine and Journal of Science'', Series&nbsp;4, vol.{{nnbsp}}12, no.{{hsp}}76, pp.{{nnbsp}}1–20.

* J.A. Stratton, 1941, ''Electromagnetic Theory'', New York: McGraw-Hill.

* [[E. T. Whittaker]], 1910, [[A History of the Theories of Aether and Electricity|''A History of the Theories of Aether and Electricity: From the Age of Descartes to the Close of the Nineteenth Century'']], London: Longmans, Green, &amp; Co.

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