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The electromagnetic wave equation is a second-order partial differential equation that describes the propagation of electromagnetic waves through a medium or in a vacuum. It is a three-dimensional form of the wave equation. The homogeneous form of the equation, written in terms of either the electric field E or the magnetic field B, takes the form:
Maxwell's equations may be combined to demonstrate how fluctuations in electromagnetic fields (waves) propagate at a constant speed in vacuum, c (299 792 458 m/s [2]). Known as electromagnetic radiation, these waves occur at various wavelengths to produce a spectrum of radiation from radio waves to gamma rays.
Electromagnetic waves in free space must be solutions of Maxwell's electromagnetic wave equation. Two main classes of solutions are known, namely plane waves and spherical waves. The plane waves may be viewed as the limiting case of spherical waves at a very large (ideally infinite) distance from the source.
These equations are inhomogeneous versions of the wave equation, with the terms on the right side of the equation serving as the source functions for the wave. As with any wave equation, these equations lead to two types of solution: advanced potentials (which are related to the configuration of the sources at future points in time), and ...
"A Dynamical Theory of the Electromagnetic Field" is a paper by James Clerk Maxwell on electromagnetism, published in 1865. [1] In the paper, Maxwell derives an electromagnetic wave equation with a velocity for light in close agreement with measurements made by experiment, and deduces that light is an electromagnetic wave.
Maxwell's equations can directly give inhomogeneous wave equations for the electric field E and magnetic field B. [1] Substituting Gauss's law for electricity and Ampère's law into the curl of Faraday's law of induction, and using the curl of the curl identity ∇ × (∇ × X) = ∇(∇ ⋅ X) − ∇ 2 X (The last term in the right side is the vector Laplacian, not Laplacian applied on ...
Maxwell's equations provided a sound mathematical basis for the relationships between electricity and magnetism that scientists had been exploring for centuries, and predicted the existence of self-sustaining electromagnetic waves. Maxwell postulated that such waves make up visible light, which was later shown to be true. Gamma-rays, x-rays ...
Wave equation. The wave equation is a second-order linear partial differential equation for the description of waves or standing wave fields such as mechanical waves (e.g. water waves, sound waves and seismic waves) or electromagnetic waves (including light waves). It arises in fields like acoustics, electromagnetism, and fluid dynamics.