An analysis of the travelling-wave cavity

An experimental inquiry into the response of a travelling-wave cavity by the authors showed that the actual response of a typical cavity differs from that predicted by the simple theory. A theoretical analysis shows that an internal mismatch can explain the observed response. It is further shown that an isolator in the cavity greatly reduces the effect of any mismatch so that the response of the cavity will deviate insignificantly (in the case considered) from the originally expected response.