Effective Medium Theory of Electromagnetic and Quantum Metamaterials

TL;DR

This paper reviews recent advances in effective medium theory for electromagnetic and quantum metamaterials, emphasizing a unified homogenization approach and exact energy calculations for certain field quantities.

Contribution

It introduces a unified effective medium framework for electromagnetic and quantum systems using an effective Hamiltonian operator.

Findings

Homogenization of electromagnetic and electronic systems via a common approach

Exact determination of quadratic field forms like energy using the theory

Unified description of macroscopic states in metamaterials

Abstract

Here, we present an overview of recent developments in the characterization of electromagnetic and quantum metamaterials using effective medium methods. It is highlighted that both electromagnetic and electronic systems can be homogenized in a unified manner based on the introduction of an effective Hamiltonian operator that describes the time evolution of the macroscopic initial states as well as the stationary states of the relevant system. Furthermore, it is shown that in some circumstances quadratic forms of the fields, such as the energy, can be exactly determined using the effective medium theory.