Title :
Notes on waves with negative phase velocity
Author_Institution :
Sch. of Phys. & Astron., Univ. of St. Andrews, Fife, UK
Abstract :
Negative refraction is a wave phenomenon beyond geometrical optics - it depends on the way waves behave when their phase velocity reaches a zero. Various forms of linear wave processes in media can be concisely described in one wave equation that is inspired by the interpretation of a medium as an effective space-time geometry. Depending on the conformal factor of the effective metric, the waves may show positive or negative refraction. For electromagnetic waves in two-dimensional dielectrics the conformal factor corresponds to the impedance.
Keywords :
electromagnetic wave refraction; general relativity; geometrical optics; light velocity; space-time configurations; wave equations; conformal factor; effective metric; effective space-time geometry; electromagnetic waves; general relativity; geometrical optics; impedance; linear wave processes; negative phase velocity; negative refraction; phase velocity; positive refraction; two-dimensional dielectrics; wave equation; wave phenomenon; Dielectrics; Dispersion; Electromagnetic refraction; Electromagnetic scattering; Geometrical optics; Optical propagation; Optical refraction; Optical surface waves; Optical variables control; Partial differential equations;
Journal_Title :
Selected Topics in Quantum Electronics, IEEE Journal of
DOI :
10.1109/JSTQE.2002.807968
