IEVref: 705-01-28 ID: Language: en Status: Standard Term: wave vector Synonym1: Synonym2: Synonym3: Symbol: Definition: a complex vector $\stackrel{\to }{\underset{_}{K}}=\stackrel{\to }{{K}^{\prime }}+\text{j}\stackrel{\to }{{K}^{″}}$ which characterizes a sinusoidal electromagnetic wave relative to a point in space when each of the electromagnetic field vectors can be represented, in a domain of space in the neighbourhood of this point, by an expression such as: $\stackrel{\to }{{\underset{_}{V}}_{\text{i}}}=\stackrel{\to }{{\underset{_}{V}}_{\text{oi}}}\text{\hspace{0.17em}}{\text{e}}^{\text{j}\left(\omega t-\stackrel{\to }{\underset{_}{K}}\cdot \stackrel{\to }{r}\right)}$ in which: - vectors $\stackrel{\to }{{\underset{_}{V}}_{\text{oi}}}\text{\hspace{0.17em}}$, generally complex, are independent of time and practically constant in the domain considered, - $\stackrel{\to }{\underset{_}{K}}$ vector is practically constant in the domain considered, - ω is the angular frequency, - t is time, - $\stackrel{\to }{r}$ is the vector joining the origin of coordinates to the point of interest in the domain NOTE 1 – If the wave can be characterized by a wave vector at every point in a domain, there exists a wavefront containing the point and orthogonal to the real part $\stackrel{\to }{{K}^{\prime }}$ of the wave vector. The magnitude of $\stackrel{\to }{\underset{_}{K}}$ is 2π divided by the wavelength. NOTE 2 – The wave has an elliptical polarization if the imaginary part of each vector $\stackrel{\to }{{\underset{_}{V}}_{\text{oi}}}\text{\hspace{0.17em}}$ is neither zero nor collinear with its real part; the wave has a linear polarization in the other cases. Publication date: 1995-09 Source: Replaces: Internal notes: CO remarks: TC/SC remarks: VT remarks: Domain1: Domain2: Domain3: Domain4: Domain5: