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D. R. Wilton
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
University of Houston
University Park
Houston, TX 77204-4793
Tel: (713) 743-4442
1. Abstract
A vector diagram illustrating Maxwells equations is derived
in this paper. Upon equating various components of vectors in the
diagram, a number of common relationships between field quantities are obtained. The potentials and their relationships to field
quantities may also be represented. Justification of the procedure
used to construct the diagram is based on Fourier transformation of
Maxwells equations. While the diagram is mostly of interest for its
novelty, it has found use in clarifying certain gauge choices in dealing with electromagnetic potentials.
2. Introduction
n this paper, we present a vector diagram in which are represented all the common relationships between field and potential
quantities implied by Maxwells equations. The relationships are
obtained from the diagram by equating appropriate components of
the vectors appearing in it. The line of reasoning, used in Section 3
to construct the diagram, is based on the,fornm/ similarity of many
theorems of vector calculus to those of vector algebra. The procedure is more-rigorously justified in Section 4, by means of Fouriertransform pairs.
To derive a graphical representation of the above relationships, we formally treat the vector-differential operator, V , as an
ordinary vector. Rigorous justification of this point of view is
delayed, so that we might first motivate the usefulness of the
approach. Here, we merely proceed to develop a graphical representation of the relationships implied by Equations (1) and (2)
under this assumption. Thus, for example, we treat the divergence
and curl operations in Equations (1) as ordinary scalar (dot) and
vector (cross) products, respectively, and examine what the resulting equations would imply. For example, Equations (IC) and (2b)
imply that H is perpendicular to the vector V . This relationship is
shown Figure 1 by drawing H out of the plane of the page, where
V is assumed to be in the plane of the page. The vector V x H
must be perpendicular to both V and H and, hence, lies in the plane
of the page, but perpendicular to V , Equation (lb) may now be
represented by constructing the vector sum of E and J / ( , j u s ) ,and
equating it to V x H / ( j m ) . By Equation (la), E is perpendicular
to H and, therefore, must lie in the plane of the figure, as must J.
At this point, one notes from Figure 1 that the components of
E and J / ( j m ) parallel to V must be equal and opposite. That is,
by Equation s( 1d) and (2a),
V x E = --/w,LIH,
V x H = p & E +J ,
V*B=O,
V*D=p.
These are supplemented by the constitutive relations
D = &E,
B=pH
Since we assume a homogeneous, isotropic medium, the permittivity, E , and permeability, ,U, are scalar constants.
H=
Figure 1. The vector diagram of field and source quantities.
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IEEE
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(4)
is obtained Note that this relationship is the first that has been
d u from the diagram The diagram not only allows us to derive
relationships but, as this example shows, it also suggests how to do
it i e , dot Equation ( I b) with V and use Equations (Id) and
(24
All but one of Maxwells Equations (1) are now incorporated
into Figure 1 Since H is perpendicular to the diagram, however, its
length relative to the other vectors cannot be shown and, hence, we
must show its defining relation by giving Equation (1) on the diagram explicitly This completes the vector diagram, and the reader
may check that all the Maxwell relations, Equations (l), appear
there
Next, we look at several useful potential quantities from
which fields can be derived: these relationships may also be illustrated on the diagram. First, we note that since H is perpendicular
to V , there exists a vector A such that
\
/
1
H=-VxA,
iu
v x (E +@A)
VxVxA
Jw ___-
= 0,
(7)
v x (V x A) = v ( v . A ) - ( v .V)A = V V ~ A - V ~ A
a
-VxE
H=j w
V
x H ____VxVxE
___ jo&
k2
IEEE Antennas and Propagation Magazine, Vol. 37, No. 5, October 1995
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J
V2A
j w A -- = -
JWpE
JCi&
which yields, upon taking the dot product of both sides with V ,
We
may
even
give
meaning
to
the
expression
+ k2)- :
The inverse of the Laplacian operator also follows from Equation (12) by merely setting k equal to zero on both sides of the
equation:
Rather than the Lorenz gauge, we could easily have chosen the
Coulomb gauge,
V * A ,= 0 ,
(14)
where vis assumed to vanish as t approaches (-m) Magnetic currents can also be incorporated in the diagram, but the vector quantities then no longer lie in the plane of the figure However, if magnetic currents ordy are used, diagrams dual to those presented here
are obtained, and situations where both types of current are present
can be obtained by superposition
We also note that the vector diagram clearly shows that the
Coulomb and Lorenz gauges are the only choices that make A
either parallel or perpendicular to any of the other vectors in the
diagram, thus simplifying its relationship to those vectors. In this
sense, these gauges are seen to be the only usehl choices. An
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and ( - k - k ) , respectively )
where,
in
Cartesian
coordinates,
and
-,jk x E = - , j r i j / H ,
-jk x 6 = j ~ & +5 ,
-jk x B = 0 ,
and
-px D = 5,
v .(A
6=&E,
E =jrH,
Equations (19) and (20) are vector algebraic equations, valid at
every point k in the transform domain. It is evident that there exist
a set of corresporidei1ce.r between Equations (l), (2), and (19),
(20). For example, the latter pair of equations are obtained from the
former pair, if we merely replace field quantities by field-transform
quantities, and replace the vector-differential operator V by - j k .
Note that the first correspondence is between elements (the field
vectors), whereas the second i s between operafors in the two
domains.
In the transformed Equations (19) and (20), a true vector
quantity replaces the operator V and, hence, the arguments of the
preceding section now may be rigoroudy applied to construct vector diagrams corresponding to Figures 1-4, depicting corresponding
relationships between the fi-aii.~foi-ined
fields and potentials. These
relationships, and any others we obtain from the diagram, have
space-domain counterparts, which can be obtained by inverse
Fourier transformation. But because of the correspondences mentioned above, the space-domain counterparts are obtained merely
by replacing transform-domain quantities by spatial-domain quantities, and the vector ( - j k ) by the vector V, taking care to arrange
terms involving V in such a way that the indicated operations make
sense. (We remark that this was the actual procedure used to construct the diagram; it was first constructed in the Fourier domain.)
We have merely eliminated these steps by labeling the diagrams for
transformed quantities with the corresponding spatial-domain
quantities directly (Note that if the operations (V2 + k 2 ) - '
10
and
B) = B
-v
xA
-A.
vxB,
(22)
and
(26)
IEEE Antennas and Propagation Magazine, Vol. 37, No. 5 , October 1995
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6. References
1. K. A. Michalski and D. Zheng, Electromagnetic Scattering and
Radiation by Surfaces of Arbitrary Shape in Layered Media, Part. I:
Theory, IEEE Gatisncfiom or?Aiileririas atid Pr.oycrgafioti,AP38, 3, March 1990, pp. 335-344.
2. R. F. Harrington, Tinie-Hariiioi7ic Elec/i~oiiiagiielicFields, New
York, McGraw-Hill, 1961
5. Conclusions
We have derived a vector diagram of Maxwells timeharmonic equations in homogeneous isotropic media by formally
treating the del operator V as an ordinary vector The diagram
not only illustrates Maxwells equations, but also many of the standard relationships derivable from them The procedure may also be
used to establish and depict relationships among the vector and
scalar potentials and the field quantities The often-conhsing concepts of gauge invariance and choice of gauge are particularly well
clarified by the vector diagram
The analysis leading to the vector diagrams is justified on the
basis of the formal correspondence between Maxwells equations
and their three-dimensional (spatial) Fourier transforms. It is shown
that, upon Fourier transformation, Maxwells equations become
ordinary vector algebraic equations, in which the vector differential
operator V is replaced by an ordinary vector To each operation on
the resulting transformed equations there corresponds an operation
on the original equations, so that one may solve the equations in
the transform domain (by a series of algebraic operations), and
transform back to obtain the solution in the original domain. It is
apparent that this approach is nothing more than a multi-dimensional generalization of the use of Fourier or Laplace transforms to
transform ordinary linear-differential equations with constant coefficients into algebraic equations which, when solved, yield the
transform of the solution to the original problem
Donald R. Wilton was born in Lawton, Oklahoma, October 25, 1942 He received the BS, MS, and PhD degrees from the
University of Illinois in 1964, 1966, and 1970, respectively From
1965 to 1968, he was with Hughes Aircraft Company, Fullerton,
California, engaged in the analysis and design of phased-array
antennas From 1970-1983, he was with the Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Mississippi, and since 1983 he has
been Professor of Electrical Engineering at the University of
Houston From 1978-1979, he was a Visiting Professor at Syracuse
University His research interests are primarily in computational
electromagnetics, and he has published extensively in these areas
IEEE Antennas and Propagation Magazine, Vol. 37, No. 5,October 1995
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