Chapter 24

Raymond A.
Serway
John W. Jewett
Chapter 24
Electromagnetic Waves
Electromagnetic
Waves, Introduction
• Electromagnetic (em) waves permeate our
environment
• EM waves can propagate through a vacuum.
• Much of the behavior of mechanical wave models
is similar for em waves
• Maxwell’s equations form the basis of all
electromagnetic phenomena
24.1 Displacement Current and the
Generalized Form of Ampère’s Law
• A conduction current is carried by charged
particles in a wire
• The magnetic field associated with this current
can be calculated using Ampère’s law:
• The line integral is over any closed path through

which the conduction current passes
• Ampère’s law in this form is
valid only if the conduction

current is continuous in
space
• Consider a charging
capacitor in the figure

• The charge on the plates
changes
• No conduction current exists
between the plates
• Consider the two surfaces
S1 and S2 bounded by the
same path P
• Ampère’s law says that the
line integral around this
path must equal 0I,
• where I is the conduction
current through any surface
bounded by the path P
• When the path P is
considered as bounding S1,
the right-hand side of
is 0I because the conduction

current passes through S1
while the capacitor is
charging
• When the path P is
considered as bounding S2,
the right-hand side of
is zero because no
conduction current passes
through S2
• Therefore, a contradictory situation arises
because of the discontinuity of the current!
• Maxwell solved this problem by postulating an
additional term on the right side, called the
displacement current Id:
• The word displacement here does not have the

same meaning as in Chapter 2;
• it is historically entrenched in the language of
physics, however, so we continue to use it
• The changing electric field may be
considered as equivalent to a current
• For example, between the plates of a capacitor
• This current can be considered as the
continuation of the conduction current in a
wire
• This term is added to the current term in
Ampère’s Law
• The general form of Ampère’s law is also
called the Ampère-Maxwell law and states:
• Magnetic fields are produced by both conduction

currents and changing electric fields.
• Consider the figure shown
• The electric flux through S
is EA
• A is the area of the
capacitor plates
• E is the electric field
between the plates
• If q is the charge on the
plates,
then the flux through S is
• The displacement
current is
• precisely equal to the

conduction current I in
the wires connected to
the capacitor!
• The displacement current as the source of
the magnetic field on the surface boundary
• The displacement current has its physical
origin in the time-varying electric field
• The central point of this formalism is that
magnetic fields are produced both by conduction
currents and by time-varying electric fields
24.2 Maxwell’s Equations and Hertz’s
Discoveries
• In 1865, James Clerk Maxwell provided a
mathematical theory that showed a close
relationship between all electric and magnetic
phenomena
• Maxwell’s four equations also predicted the
existence of electromagnetic waves that
propagate through space
• Einstein showed these equations are in
agreement with the special theory of relativity
Discoveries
• Gauss’s law:
• The total electric flux through any closed

surface equals the net charge inside that
surface divided by 0
• This law relates an electric field to the charge
distribution that creates it
Discoveries
• Gauss’s law in magnetism:
• The net magnetic flux through a closed

surface is zero
• That is, the number of magnetic field lines that
enter a closed volume must equal the number
that leave that volume
Discoveries
• This implies that magnetic field lines cannot
begin or end at any point
• If they did, it would mean that isolated magnetic
monopoles existed at those points
• That isolated magnetic monopoles have not
been observed in nature can be taken as a
confirmation of Gauss’s law in magnetism
Discoveries
• Faraday’s law of induction:
• Describes the creation of an electric field by a

changing magnetic flux
• The emf, which is the line integral of the electric
field around any closed path, equals the rate of
change of magnetic flux through any surface
bounded by that path
• One consequence of Faraday’s law is the
current induced in a conducting loop placed
in a time-varying magnetic field
Discoveries
• Ampère-Maxwell law:
describes the creation of a magnetic field by a

changing electric field and by electric current:
• The line integral of the magnetic field around any
closed path is the sum of 0 multiplied by the net
current through that path and 00 multiplied by
the rate of change of electric flux through any
surface bounded by that path
Discoveries
• Once the electric and magnetic fields are
known at some point in space, the force of
those fields on a particle of charge q can be
calculated:
• The force is called the Lorentz force

• This relationship is called the Lorentz force law
• Maxwell’s equations, together with this force
law, completely describe all classical
electromagnetic interactions in a vacuum
Discoveries
• In empty space, q = 0 and I = 0, the solution
to Gauss’s law and Gauss’s law in
magnetism:
shows that electromagnetic waves move at the

speed of light
• Maxwell predicted that light waves are a form
of electromagnetic radiation
Discoveries
• Hertz performed experiments
that verified Maxwell’s prediction
• Consider the apparatus shown
• An induction coil is connected to a
transmitter made up of two
spherical electrodes separated by
a narrow gap
• The coil provides short voltage
surges to the electrodes, making
one positive and the other
negative
Discoveries
• A spark is generated between
the spheres when the electric
field near either electrode
surpasses the dielectric strength
for air
• Free electrons in a strong electric
field are accelerated and gain
enough energy to ionize any
molecules they strike
Discoveries
• This ionization provides more electrons,
which can accelerate and cause further
ionizations
• As the air in the gap is ionized, it becomes a
much better conductor and the discharge
between the electrodes exhibits an oscillatory
behavior at a very high frequency
Discoveries
• This experimental apparatus is equivalent to
an LC circuit in which the inductance is that
of the coil and the capacitance is due to the
spherical electrodes
• By applying Kirchhoff’s loop rule to an LC circuit,
the current in an LC circuit oscillates in simple
harmonic motion at the frequency
Discoveries
• In Hertz’s experiment, sparks were induced
across the gap of the receiving electrodes
when the receiver’s frequency was adjusted
to match that of the transmitter
• Hertz demonstrated that the oscillating
current induced in the receiver was produced
by electromagnetic waves radiated by the
transmitter
• This is analogous a tuning fork which responds
to acoustic vibrations from an identical tuning fork
that is oscillating
24.3 Electromagnetic Waves
• An electromagnetic wave consists of
oscillating electric and magnetic fields
• The changing fields induce each other, which
maintains the propagation of the wave
• a changing electric field induces a magnetic field
• a changing magnetic field induces an electric
field
• The electric and magnetic fields are mutually
perpendicular
• The direction of the propagation is the
direction of the vector product
• Note the direction of
propagation in the figure is +x
• The y axis is parallel to the
electric field vector
• The magnetic field vector is in
the z direction
• Waves in which the electric and magnetic
fields are restricted to being parallel to certain
directions are said to be linearly polarized
waves
• Imagine that the source of the
electromagnetic waves is such that a wave
radiated from any position in the yz plane (not
just from the origin) propagates in the x
direction and that all such waves are emitted
in phase
• If we define a ray as the line along which a
wave travels, all rays for these waves are
parallel
• This whole collection of waves is often called a
plane wave
• A surface connecting points of equal phase
on all waves, which we call a wave front, is a
geometric plane
• In comparison, a point source of radiation
sends waves out in all directions
• A surface connecting points of equal phase
for this situation is a sphere, so we call the
radiation from a point source a spherical
wave
• Let’s start with Faraday’s law
• Assume the electromagnetic wave is

traveling in the x direction, with the electric
field in the positive y direction and the
magnetic field in the positive z direction
• Consider the rectangle in
the xy plane shown in the
figure
• First, evaluate the line
integral around this rectangle
in the counterclockwise
direction at an instant of time
when the wave is passing
through the rectangle
• The contributions from the
top and bottom of the
rectangle are zero
• The electric field on the right side of the
rectangle is
• where E(x) is the field on the left side of the

rectangle at this instant
• The line integral over this rectangle is
approximately
• Because the magnetic field is in the z
direction, the magnetic flux through the
rectangle B = Bldx
• assuming dx is very small compared with the
wavelength of the wave
• Taking the time derivative of the magnetic flux
gives
• Substituting:
• We can derive a second
equation by starting with
• The line integral is evaluated

around a rectangle lying in the
xz plane
• The magnitude of the magnetic
field changes from B(x) to
B(x+dx) over the width dx
• The direction for taking the line
integral is counterclockwise when
viewed from above
• The line integral over this rectangle is found
to be approximately
• The electric flux differentiated with respect to

time gives
• Substituting:
• Taking derivatives of
with respect to x and combining:
• Taking the derivative of

with respect to x and combining:
• These equations have the form of the linear wave

equation with the waves speed v replaced by c,
with
which is equal to the speed of light

• The simplest solution to the partial differential
equations is a sinusoidal wave:
• The angular wave number is k = 2

•  is the wavelength
• The angular frequency is  = 2ƒ
• ƒ is the wave frequency
• The ratio:
• For electromagnetic waves the wavelengths
and frequency of the waves are related by
• Taking partial derivatives of
gives:
• Substituting:
• Combining:
• At every instant, the ratio of the magnitude of

the electric field to the magnitude of the
magnetic field in an electromagnetic wave
equals the speed of light
• Electromagnetic waves obey the
superposition principle because the
differential equations involving E and B are
linear equations
• For example, we can add two waves with the
same frequency and polarization simply by
adding the magnitudes of the two electric fields
algebraically
• Light exhibits a Doppler effect
• Remember, the Doppler effect is an apparent
change in frequency due to the motion of an
observer or the source
• Since there is no medium required for light
waves, only the relative speed, v, between
the source and the observer can be identified
• If a light source and an observer approach
each other with relative speed v, the
frequency f’ measured by the observer is
• ƒ is the frequency emitted by the source in its

rest frame
• The Doppler effect is used to measure shifts
in the frequency of light emitted by a moving
astronomical object such as a galaxy
• Light emitted by atoms and normally found in the
extreme violet region of the spectrum is shifted
toward the red end of the spectrum for atoms in
other galaxies
• This indicates that these galaxies are
receding from us
• American astronomer Edwin Hubble (1889–
1953) performed extensive measurements of
this red shift to confirm that most galaxies are
moving away from us
• indicating that the Universe is expanding
Example 24.1 An Electromagnetic
Wave
A sinusoidal electromagnetic wave of
frequency 40.0 MHz travels in free space in
the x direction as in the figure.
Wave
(A) Determine the wavelength and period of the
wave
• Find the wavelength of the wave:
• Find the period T of the wave as the inverse of

the frequency:
Wave
(B) At some point and at some instant, the
electric field has its maximum value of 750 N/C
and is directed along the y axis. Calculate the
magnitude and direction of the magnetic field at
this position and time.
• Find the magnitude of the magnetic field:
Wave
(C) An observer on the x axis, far to the right in
Figure 24.8, moves to the left along the x axis
at 0.500c. What frequency does this observer
measure for the electromagnetic wave?
• Find the observed frequency:
24.4 Energy Carried by
• Electromagnetic waves carry energy
• As they propagate through space, they can
transfer that energy to objects in their path
• The rate of flow of energy in an em wave is
described by a vector called the Poynting
vector
• The Poynting Vector is defined as
• Its direction is the direction of propagation

• This is time dependent
• Its magnitude varies in time
• Its magnitude reaches a
maximum at the same

instant as the fields
• The magnitude of the vector represents the
rate at which energy flows through a unit
surface area perpendicular to the direction of
the wave propagation.
• This is the power per unit area
• The SI units: J/s.m2 = W/m2
• The magnitude of the Poynting vector for a
plane electromagnetic wave is:
• Because B = E/c, we can also express the

magnitude of the Poynting vector as
• These equations for S apply at any instant of time

• The wave intensity, I, is the time average of
S over one or more cycles
• When the average is taken, we obtain the time
average of cos2(kx  t), which is ½
• The average value is:
• Recall that the energy per unit volume uE,
which is the instantaneous energy density
associated with an electric field, is given by
• and that the instantaneous energy density uB

associated with a magnetic field is given by
• Then we have
and
• The instantaneous energy density associated
with the magnetic field equals the

instantaneous energy density associated with
the electric field.
• In a given volume the energy is equally shared by
the two fields.
• The total instantaneous energy density u is
the sum of the energy densities associated
with each field:
• When this is averaged over one or more
cycles, the total average becomes
• Which gives us:
• The intensity of an electromagnetic wave equals

the average energy density multiplied by the
speed of light
Example 24.2 Fields on a Page
Estimate the maximum magnitudes of the
electric and magnetic fields of the light that is
incident on this page because of the visible
light coming from your desk lamp. Treat the
light bulb as a point source of electromagnetic
radiation that is 5% efficient at transforming
energy coming in by electrical transmission to
energy leaving by visible light.
• Set I equal to the intensity of an electromagnetic
wave:
• Solve for the electric field magnitude:

• Let’s make some assumptions about
numbers to enter in this equation.
• The visible light output of a 60-W light bulb
operating at 5% efficiency is approximately 3.0 W
by visible light.
• The remaining energy transfers out of the light
bulb by conduction and invisible radiation.
• A reasonable distance from the light bulb to the
page might be 0.30 m.
• Substitute these values:
• Find the magnetic field magnitude:

24.5 Momentum and Radiation
Pressure
• Electromagnetic waves transport momentum
as well as energy
• Pressure is exerted on a surface when an
electromagnetic wave impinges on it
• Assume that the electromagnetic wave
strikes a surface at normal incidence and
transports a total energy TER to a surface in a
time interval t
Pressure
• If the surface absorbs all the incident energy
TER in this time, the total momentum delivered
to this surface has a magnitude
• Pressure is defined as the force per unit area
which leads to
Pressure
• Note that (dTER/dt)/A is the rate at which
energy is arriving at the surface per unit area,
the magnitude of the pointing vector, so:
• An absorbing surface for which all the

incident energy is absorbed (none is
reflected) is called a black body
Pressure
• The intensity of an electromagnetic wave I is
equal to the average value of S, so we can
express the average radiation pressure as
• Because Savg represents power per unit area,

we find that the average power delivered to a
surface of area A is
• We use “Power ” to represent power because we

also have P for pressure
Pressure
• If the surface is a perfect reflector, the
momentum delivered in a time interval t for
normal incidence is p = 2TER/c
• A momentum TER/c is delivered first by the
incident wave and then again by the reflected
wave
• The radiation pressure exerted on a perfect
reflecting surface for normal incidence of the
wave is
Pressure
• This is an apparatus for
measuring radiation
pressure
• Light is allowed to strike
either a mirror or a black
disk, both of which are
suspended from a fine fiber
• Light striking the black disk
is completely absorbed, so
all its momentum is
transferred to the disk
Pressure
• Light striking the mirror (normal incidence) is
totally reflected and so the momentum
transfer is twice as great as that transferred
to the disk
• The radiation pressure is determined by
measuring the angle through which the
horizontal connecting rod rotates
• The apparatus must be placed in a high vacuum
to eliminate the effects of air currents
Example 24.3 Solar Energy
The Sun delivers about 1 000 W/m2 of energy to
the Earth’s surface.
(A) Calculate the total power incident on a roof
of dimensions 8.00 m × 20.0 m
• The Poynting vector has an average magnitude
I = Savg = 1 000 W/m2, which represents the power
per unit area. Assuming that the radiation is
incident normal to the roof, find the power
delivered to the whole roof:
Example 24.3 Solar Energy
(B) Determine the radiation pressure and
radiation force on the roof, assuming that the
roof covering is a perfect absorber.
• Find the average radiation pressure on the roof:
• Noting that pressure is defined as force per unit

area, find the radiation force on the roof:
Example 24.4 Pressure from a Laser
Pointer
When giving presentations, many people use a
laser pointer to direct the attention of the
audience to information on a screen. If a 3.0-
mW pointer creates a spot on a screen that is
2.0 mm in diameter, determine the radiation
pressure on a screen that reflects 70% of the
light that strikes it. The power 3.0 mW is a time-
averaged value.
Pointer
• Divide the time-averaged power delivered via the
electromagnetic wave by the cross-sectional area
of the beam:
Pointer
• Now let’s determine the radiation pressure
from the laser beam
• A completely reflected beam would apply an
average pressure of Pavg = 2Savg/c
• We can model the actual reflection as follows.
Imagine that the surface absorbs the beam,
resulting in pressure Pavg = Savg/c
Pointer
• Then the surface emits the beam, resulting in
additional pressure Pavg = Savg/c
• If the surface emits only a fraction f of the beam
(so that f is the amount of the incident beam
reflected), the pressure due to the emitted beam
is Pavg = fSavg/c
Pointer
• Use this model to find the total pressure on the
surface due to absorption and re-emission
(reflection):
• Evaluate this pressure for a beam that is 70%

reflected:
Pressure
• A space-sailing craft includes a very large sail
that reflects light
• The motion of the spacecraft depends on the
pressure from light
• From the force exerted on the sail by the
reflection of light from the Sun
• Studies concluded that sailing craft could
travel between planets in times similar to
those for traditional rockets
24.6 The Spectrum of EM Waves
• Various types of electromagnetic waves make
up the em spectrum
• There is no sharp division between one kind of
em wave and the next
• All forms of the various types of radiation are
produced by the same phenomenon:
• accelerating charges
• Note the overlap
between types of
waves
• Visible light is a
small portion of the
spectrum
• Types are
distinguished by
frequency or
wavelength
• Radio Waves
• The result of charges accelerating
• for example, through conducting wires in a radio
antenna
• They are generated by such electronic devices
as LC oscillators and are used in radio and
television communication systems
• Microwaves (short-wavelength radio waves)
• Have wavelengths ranging between about 1 mm
and 30 cm and are also generated by electronic
devices
• Because of their short wavelengths, they are well
suited for radar systems used in aircraft
navigation and for studying the atomic and
molecular properties of matter
• Microwave ovens are a domestic application of
these waves
• Infrared waves
• Wavelengths of about 11 mm to 7×107 m
• Produced by objects at room temperature and
by molecules, and are readily absorbed by
most materials
• Infrared radiation has many practical and
scientific applications, including
• physical therapy, infrared photography, and
vibrational spectroscopy
• Your remote control for your TV or DVD player
likely uses an infrared beam to communicate
with the video device
• Visible light
• Part of the spectrum detected by
the human eye
• Light is produced by hot objects
like light bulb filaments and by
the rearrangement of electrons
in atoms and molecules.
• Different wavelengths
correspond to different colors
• The range is from
• red ( ~ 7×107 m) to
• violet ( ~ 4×107 m)
• Ultraviolet light
• Covers wavelengths from about 4×107 m to
6×1010 m
• The Sun is an important source of uv light
• Most uv light from the Sun is absorbed in the
stratosphere by ozone
• A great deal of concern has arisen concerning
the depletion of the protective ozone layer by the
use of a class of chemicals called
chlorofluorocarbons (e.g., Freon) in aerosol spray
cans and as refrigerants
• X-rays
• Wavelengths of about 108 m to 1012 m
• Most common source is acceleration of high-
energy electrons striking a metal target

• Used as a diagnostic tool in medicine and as a
treatment for certain forms of cancer
• X-rays are also used in the study of crystal
structure
• x-ray wavelengths are comparable to the atomic
separation distances (< 0.1 nm) in solids
• Gamma rays
• Wavelengths of about 1010 m to 1014 m
• Emitted by radioactive nuclei
• Highly penetrating and cause serious damage
when absorbed by living tissue
24.7 Polarization of Light Waves
• The electric and magnetic vectors associated
with an electromagnetic wave are
perpendicular to each other and to the
direction of wave propagation
• Polarization is a property that specifies the
directions of the electric and magnetic fields
associated with an em wave
• The direction of polarization is defined to be the
direction in which the electric field is vibrating
• All directions of vibration from a wave source
are possible
• The resultant em wave is a superposition of
waves vibrating in many different directions.
• This is an unpolarized wave
• The arrows show a few possible
directions of the waves in the
beam
• A wave is said to be linearly polarized if the
resultant electric field vibrates in the same
direction at all times at a particular point
• The plane formed by the electric field and the
direction of propagation is called the plane of
polarization of the wave
• It is possible to obtain a linearly polarized beam
from an unpolarized beam by removing all waves
from the beam expect those whose electric field
vectors oscillate in a single plane
• The most common processes for accomplishing
polarization of the beam is called selective
absorption
• Uses a material that transmits waves whose electric field
vectors in the plane parallel to a certain direction and
absorbs waves whose electric field vectors are
perpendicular
• E. H. Land discovered a material that
polarizes light through selective absorption
• He called the material Polaroid
• The molecules readily absorb light whose electric
field vector is parallel to their lengths and allow
light through whose electric field vector is
perpendicular to their lengths
• It is common to refer to the direction
perpendicular to the molecular chains as the
transmission axis
• In an ideal polarizer:
• All light with the electric field parallel to the
transmission axis is transmitted
• All light with the electric field perpendicular to the
transmission axis is absorbed
• The intensity of the polarized beam
transmitted through the second polarizing
sheet (the analyzer) varies as
•
Io is the intensity of the polarized wave incident on
the analyzer.
• This is known as Malus’ Law
and applies to any two

polarizing materials whose
transmission axes are at an
angle of θ to each other.
• The intensity of the transmitted beam is a
maximum when the transmission axes are
parallel:
 = 0 or 180o
• The intensity is zero when the transmission
axes are perpendicular to each other
•This would cause complete absorption
• Refer to the figure below
• On the left, the transmission axes are aligned
and maximum intensity occurs
• In the middle, the axes are at 45 o to each other
and less intensity occurs
• On the right, the transmission axes are
perpendicular and the light intensity is a minimum
24.8 Context Connection: The
Special Properties of Laser Light
• The primary properties of laser light that
make it useful in these applications are the
following:
• The light is coherent
• The rays maintain a fixed phase relationship with
one another
• There is no destructive interference
• The light is monochromatic
• It has a very small range of wavelengths
• The light has a small angle of divergence
• The beam spreads out very little, even over long
distances
• The energies of an atom are quantized
• An energy level diagram illustrates the quantized
energies in an atom
• The production of laser light depends heavily
on the properties of these energy levels in the
atoms, the source of the laser light
• The word laser is an acronym for light
amplification by stimulated emission of
radiation
• The full name indicates one of the
requirements for laser light, that the process
of stimulated emission must occur to
achieve laser action
• Suppose an atom is in the excited state E2
and a photon with energy hf = E2  E1 is
incident on it
• The incoming photon
can stimulate the
excited atom to return
to the ground state
and thereby emit a
second photon having
the same energy hf
and traveling in the
same direction
• Note that the incident photon is not absorbed,
so after the stimulated emission, two identical
photons exist:
• the incident photon and the emitted photon
• The emitted photon is in phase with the
incident photon
• These photons can stimulate other atoms to
emit photons in a chain of similar processes
• The many photons produced in this fashion are
the source of the intense, coherent light in a laser
• For stimulated emission to occur, there must
be a buildup of photons in the system
• The system must be in a state of population
inversion
• More atoms must be in excited states than in the
ground state
• This insures there is more emission of photons
by excited atoms than absorption by ground
state atoms
• The excited state of the system must be a
metastable state
• Its lifetime must be long compared to the usually
short lifetimes of excited states
• The energy of the metastable state is indicated
by E*
• In this case, the stimulated emission is likely to
occur before the spontaneous emission
• The emitted photons must be confined in the
system long enough to enable them to
stimulate further emission from other excited
atoms
• One end of the
apparatus is made
totally reflecting,
and the other is
slightly transparent
to allow the laser
beam to escape
• Consider a helium–neon gas
laser
• Shown is an energy-level
diagram for the neon atom in
this system
• The mixture of helium and neon
is confined to a glass tube that is
sealed at the ends by mirrors
• A voltage applied across the
tube causes electrons to sweep
through the tube, colliding with
the atoms of the gases and
raising them into excited states
• Neon atoms are excited to
state E3* through this
process and also as a result
of collisions with excited
helium atoms
• Stimulated emission occurs,
causing neon atoms to make
transitions to state E2
• Neighboring excited atoms
are also stimulated
• The result is the production of
coherent light at a wavelength
of 632.8 nm
• Applications of lasers include
• surgical “welding” of detached retinas
• precision surveying and length measurement
• precision cutting of metals and other materials
• telephone communication along optical fibers
• These and other applications are possible
because of the unique characteristics of laser
light
• In addition to being highly monochromatic,
laser light is also highly directional and can
be sharply focused to produce regions of
extremely intense light energy
• with energy densities 1012 times the density in the
flame of a typical cutting torch
• Lasers are used in precision long-range
distance measurement
• For example, the Apollo astronauts set up a
0.5-m square of reflector prisms on the Moon,
which enables laser pulses directed from an
Earth-based station to be retroreflected to the
same station
• Using the known speed of light and the measured
round-trip travel time of a laser pulse, the Earth–
Moon distance can be determined to a precision
of better than 10 cm
• Lasers have a number of medical
applications
• Laser procedures have greatly reduced
blindness in patients with glaucoma and
diabetes
• Glaucoma is an eye condition characterized by a
high fluid pressure in the eye, a condition that
can lead to destruction of the optic nerve
• A simple laser operation (iridectomy) can “burn”
open a tiny hole in a clogged membrane,
relieving the destructive pressure
• A serious side effect of diabetes is
neovascularization, the proliferation of weak
blood vessels, which often leak blood
• When neovascularization occurs in the retina,
vision deteriorates (diabetic retinopathy) and
finally is destroyed
• Today, it is possible to direct the green light from
an argon ion laser through the clear eye lens and
eye fluid, focus on the retina edges, and
photocoagulate the leaky vessels
• Even people who have only minor vision
defects such as nearsightedness are
benefiting from the use of lasers to reshape
the cornea, changing its focal length and
reducing the need for eyeglasses
• Infrared light at 10 m from a carbon dioxide
laser can cut through muscle tissue, primarily by
vaporizing the water contained in cellular material
• Laser power of approximately 100 W is required
in this technique
• The advantage of the “laser knife” over
conventional methods is that laser radiation
cuts tissue and coagulates blood at the same
time, leading to a substantial reduction in
blood loss
• The technique virtually eliminates cell migration,
an important consideration when tumors are
being removed
• In biological and medical research, it is often
important to isolate and collect unusual cells
for study and growth
• A laser cell separator exploits the tagging of
specific cells with fluorescent dyes
• All cells are then dropped from a tiny charged
nozzle and laser-scanned for the dye tag
• If triggered by the correct light-emitting tag, a
small voltage applied to parallel plates deflects
the falling electrically charged cell into a
collection beaker
• Lasers can be used in laser trapping of atoms
• One scheme, optical molasses, involves
focusing six laser beams onto a small region
in which atoms are to be trapped
• Each pair of lasers is along one of the x, y, and z
axes and emits light in opposite directions
• The frequency of the laser light is tuned to be
slightly below the absorption frequency of the
subject atom
• Imagine that an atom has been placed into
the trap region and moves along the positive
x axis toward the laser that is emitting light
toward it
• Because the atom is
moving, the light from
the laser appears
Doppler-shifted upward
in frequency in the
reference frame of the
atom
• A a match between the Doppler-shifted laser
frequency and the absorption frequency of
the atom exists and the atom absorbs
photons
• The momentum carried by these photons results
in the atom being pushed back to the center of
the trap
• By incorporating six lasers, the atoms are
pushed back into the trap regardless of which
way they move along any axis
• Another device, optical tweezers, uses a
single tightly focused laser beam to trap and
manipulate small particles
• Optical tweezers have been used to
manipulate live bacteria without damage,
move chromosomes within a cell nucleus,
and measure the elastic properties of a single
DNA molecule
• An extension of laser trapping,
laser cooling, is possible
because the normal high speeds
of the atoms are reduced when
they are restricted to the region
of the trap
• As a result, the temperature of the
collection of atoms can be reduced
to a few microkelvins
• The technique of laser cooling
allows scientists to study the
behavior of atoms at extremely
low temperatures
• In the 1920s, Satyendra Nath Bose (1894–
1974) was studying photons and investigating
collections of identical photons, which can all
be in the same quantum state
• Einstein followed up on the work of Bose and
predicted that a collection of atoms could all be in
the same quantum state if the temperature were
low enough
• The proposed collection of atoms is called a
Bose–Einstein condensate
• In 1995, using laser cooling supplemented
with evaporative cooling, the first Bose–
Einstein condensate was created in the
laboratory by Eric Cornell and Carl Wieman,
who won the 2001 Nobel Prize in Physics for
their work
• Many laboratories are now creating Bose–
Einstein condensates and studying their
properties and possible applications
• One interesting result was reported by a
Harvard University group led by Lene
Vestergaard Hau in 2001
• She and her colleagues announced that they
were able to bring a light pulse to a complete
stop by using a Bose–Einstein condensate
• More recently, scientists have discovered a
new type of Bose–Einstein condensate based
on a quasiparticle called the polariton
• The polariton, which is a superposition of a
photon and an electronic excitation in a solid,
exists typically for only a few picoseconds in an
optical cavity
• These condensates are unique because they
are extremely light compared to atomic
condensates and therefore exhibit quantum
effects at higher temperatures

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Chapter 24

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Raymond A.

• The line integral is over any closed path through

valid only if the conduction

capacitor in the figure

is 0I because the conduction

• The word displacement here does not have the

called the Ampère-Maxwell law and states:

• Magnetic fields are produced by both conduction

• The electric flux through S

• precisely equal to the

• The total electric flux through any closed

• The net magnetic flux through a closed

• Describes the creation of an electric field by a

describes the creation of a magnetic field by a

• The force is called the Lorentz force

shows that electromagnetic waves move at the

• Assume the electromagnetic wave is

• where E(x) is the field on the left side of the

• The line integral is evaluated

• The electric flux differentiated with respect to

• Taking the derivative of

• These equations have the form of the linear wave

which is equal to the speed of light

• The angular wave number is k = 2

• At every instant, the ratio of the magnitude of

• ƒ is the frequency emitted by the source in its

• Find the period T of the wave as the inverse of

• Its direction is the direction of propagation

maximum at the same

• Because B = E/c, we can also express the

• These equations for S apply at any instant of time

• and that the instantaneous energy density uB

with the magnetic field equals the

• Which gives us:

• The intensity of an electromagnetic wave equals

• Solve for the electric field magnitude:

• Find the magnetic field magnitude:

• Pressure is defined as the force per unit area

• An absorbing surface for which all the

• Because Savg represents power per unit area,

• We use “Power ” to represent power because we

• Noting that pressure is defined as force per unit

• Evaluate this pressure for a beam that is 70%

energy electrons striking a metal target

and applies to any two

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