Translation and Rotation of Transformation Media under Electromagnetic Pulse

TL;DR

This paper explores how electromagnetic pulses can cause translation and rotation of transformation media, revealing that pulse radiation can induce movement despite zero net momentum, impacting transformation optics applications.

Contribution

It demonstrates that electromagnetic pulses can induce translation and rotation in transformation media, showing dynamic responses not previously emphasized in transformation optics.

Findings

Electromagnetic pulses can induce net forces on transformation media.

Transformation media can undergo translation and rotation after pulse exposure.

Final momentum of media can be zero despite movement.

Abstract

It is well known that optical media create artificial geometry for light, and curved geometry acts as an effective optical medium. This correspondence originates from the form invariance of Maxwells equations, which recently has spawned a booming field called transformation optics. Here we investigate responses of three transformation media under electromagnetic pulses, and find that pulse radiation can induce unbalanced net force on transformation media, which will cause translation and rotation of transformation media although their final momentum can still be zero. Therefore, the transformation media do not necessarily stay the same after an electromagnetic wave passes through.