# Talk:Sinusoidal plane-wave solutions of the electromagnetic wave equation

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## Image:Elliptical_polarization_schematic.png

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## Merge with Transverse Mode?

How is this concept different from the concept discussed in transverse mode? Should these articles be linked or merged? Nimur (talk) 10:48, 12 May 2010 (UTC)

Yes, I have made that proposal again. I don't know who is watching this (obscure) page (but which deals with an essential physics topic!), but both pages really need improvement and if each were properly written, they'd be covering mostly the same ground.
Also, an unrelated point: all of the "quantum" references in this article are misplaced. According to the article title, it has to do with solutions of Maxwell's equations, and those involve ONLY classical concepts. Absolutely no appearance of Planck's constant could be derived from any solution of Maxwell's equations no matter how hard you try!! Interferometrist (talk) 17:59, 14 July 2014 (UTC)
Oppose merge: the electromagnetic solution is a special case of a coupled transverse waves (the electric and magnetic waves are coupled), so I understand the argument for a merge. However, electromagnetic waves are a particularly special case with independent notability, so shouldn't be merged into the more general article. Nevertheless, they should certainly be linked (I've done so). Klbrain (talk) 11:22, 6 June 2017 (UTC)

## Too specialized?

The title of this article is ridiculously obscure in its phrasing...which I think is a symptom of its really narrow focus. Consider merging with one of the articles on light polarization. 24.177.122.82 (talk) 22:34, 2 February 2011 (UTC)

## General solution

The general solution to the EM wave equation includes waves that are not square-integrable, e.g. f(x)= x-ct

Practical waves are square-integrable because they have finite energy, but mathematically speaking, the sentence "The general solution of the electromagnetic wave equation in homogeneous, linear, time-independent media can be written as a linear superposition of plane-waves of different frequencies and polarizations." is just incorrect. 79.180.138.206 (talk) 05:12, 15 March 2015 (UTC)

## Assessment comment

The comment(s) below were originally left at Talk:Sinusoidal plane-wave solutions of the electromagnetic wave equation/Comments, and are posted here for posterity. Following several discussions in past years, these subpages are now deprecated. The comments may be irrelevant or outdated; if so, please feel free to remove this section.

Last edited at 17:46, 17 May 2007 (UTC). \; + \; E_y^0 \cos \left ( kz-\omega t + \alpha_y \right ) \hat {\mathbf{y}}

for the electric field and

   Failed to parse (Can't write to or create math output directory): \mathbf{B} ( \mathbf{r} , t ) = \hat { \mathbf{z} } \times \mathbf{E} ( \mathbf{r} , t ) = \begin{pmatrix} -E_y^0 \cos \left ( kz-\omega t + \alpha_y \right ) \\ E_x^0 \cos \left ( kz-\omega t + \alpha_x \right ) \\ 0 \end{pmatrix} = -E_y^0 \cos \left ( kz-\omega t + \alpha_y \right ) \hat {\mathbf{x}} \; + \; E_x^0 \cos \left ( kz-\omega t + \alpha_x \right ) \hat {\mathbf{y}}


for the magnetic field, where k is the wavenumber,

   Failed to parse (Can't write to or create math output directory): \omega_{ }^{ } = c k


is the angular frequency of the wave, and Failed to parse (Can't write to or create math output directory): c

is the speed of light. The hats on the vectors indicate unit vectors in the x, y, and z directions. </quote>

If some knowledgeable person could fix the problem, the intended readers would appreciate it.

67.142.130.18 17:46, 17 May 2007 (UTC)}} Substituted at 06:16, 30 April 2016 (UTC)