can light be bent by electromagnetic fields?

mmeron@cars3.uchicago.edu · science forum Guru Joined: 14 Sep 2005 Posts: 434

In article <1137189793.963884.129180@f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com>, "clujdej@yahoo.com" <clujdej@yahoo.com> writes:

clujdej@yahoo.com · science forum Guru Wannabe Joined: 13 Jan 2006 Posts: 236

I'm afraid not. Faraday "bent" light by using an electromagnet to the
"amazement" of hordes of spectators.It is so old that many learned
people have forgotten....

clujdej@yahoo.com · science forum Guru Wannabe Joined: 13 Jan 2006 Posts: 236

To be precise: "bent" as in "changed the polarization"

http://www.rigb.org/rimain/heritage/faradaypage.jsp

Since light is nothing but an electromagnetic wave, of course that it
would interact with another electromagnetic field (as in the case of
his experiments, the field produced by an electromagnet).

mmeron@cars3.uchicago.edu · science forum Guru Joined: 14 Sep 2005 Posts: 434

In article <1137311635.110913.37930@g49g2000cwa.googlegroups.com>, "clujdej@yahoo.com" <clujdej@yahoo.com> writes:

clujdej@yahoo.com · science forum Guru Wannabe Joined: 13 Jan 2006 Posts: 236

"bent" as in changed.

clujdej@yahoo.com · science forum Guru Wannabe Joined: 13 Jan 2006 Posts: 236

"Thomson asked Faraday if had ever investigated whether light was
affected when passing through an electrolyte. Faraday said he had tried
this experiment but had not found any effect, but would try again. When
he repeated this experiment he still found no effect. It then occurred
to him to see what would happen to light passing near to a powerful
magnet. This he did by placing a piece of heavy glass on the poles of a
powerful electro-magnet; then he passed polarised light through the
glass; when he turned the electro-magnet on he found that the state of
polarisation of the light changed.

This experiment told Faraday two things. First that light had been
affected by magnetic force - the magneto-optical effect, which later
became known as the Faraday Effect."

mmeron@cars3.uchicago.edu · science forum Guru Joined: 14 Sep 2005 Posts: 434

In article <1137345973.411426.317710@f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com>, "clujdej@yahoo.com" <clujdej@yahoo.com> writes:

Mike Mainville · science forum beginner Joined: 15 Jan 2006 Posts: 2

Faraday effect
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Jump to: navigation, search
In physics, the Faraday effect or Faraday rotation is an interaction between
light and a magnetic field. The rotation of the plane of polarization is
proportional to the intensity of the component of the magnetic field in the
direction of the beam of light.

The Faraday effect, a type of magneto-optic effect, discovered by Michael
Faraday in 1845, was the first experimental evidence that light and
magnetism are related. The theoretical basis for that relation, now called
electromagnetic radiation, was developed by James Clerk Maxwell in the
1860's and 1870's. This effect occurs in most optically transparent
dielectric materials (including liquids) when they are subject to strong
magnetic fields.

The Faraday effect does not bend light, it rotates the direction of
polarization.

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tadchem · science forum Guru Joined: 03 May 2005 Posts: 1348

gubernacullum wrote:

lysdexia · science forum Guru Joined: 30 Jun 2005 Posts: 1207

Y.Porat wrote:

mmeron@cars3.uchicago.edu · science forum Guru Joined: 14 Sep 2005 Posts: 434

In article <1137377972.186210.210690@g47g2000cwa.googlegroups.com>, "tadchem" <thomas.davidson@dla.mil> writes:

RP · science forum Guru Joined: 07 May 2005 Posts: 348

mmeron@cars3.uchicago.edu wrote:

Creighton Hogg · science forum addict Joined: 04 May 2005 Posts: 93

On Mon, 16 Jan 2006 mmeron@cars3.uchicago.edu wrote:

mmeron@cars3.uchicago.edu · science forum Guru Joined: 14 Sep 2005 Posts: 434

In article <Pine.LNX.4.58.0601152227280.7311@login01.hep.wisc.edu>, Creighton Hogg <wchogg@login01.hep.wisc.edu> writes:

clujdej@yahoo.com · science forum Guru Wannabe Joined: 13 Jan 2006 Posts: 236

Hmm, you seem to know a lot more than I do on this subject. You'll have
to excuse my naivete but if you start from the Maxwell equations in
free space :

\nabla \cdot \mathbf{E} = 0

\nabla \cdot \mathbf{H} = 0

\nabla \times \mathbf{E} = - \mu_0 \frac{\partial\mathbf{H}}
{\partial t}

\nabla \times \mathbf{H} = \ \ \varepsilon_0 \frac{\partial
\mathbf{E}} {\partial t}

These equations have a simple solution in terms of travelling
sinusoidal plane waves, with the electric and magnetic field directions
orthogonal to one another and the direction of travel, and with the two
fields in phase, travelling at the speed

c = \frac{1}{\sqrt{\mu_0 \varepsilon_0}}

and you apply the superposition effect, i.e. you superimpose the B' of
Faraday's coil it is kind of evident that you get a new set of
solutions for the partial differential equations, meaning that the
light waveform has changed polarization. I might be wrong....

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