ELECTROMAGNETIC ENERGY FLOW AND THE POYNTING VECTOR

Prepared by: Nepthale-Paul P. Doblon

In physics, the Poynting vector represents the directional energy flux density (the rate of energy transfer per unit area, in Watts per square meter, W/m2) of an electromagnetic field. It is named after its inventor John Henry Poynting. Oliver Heaviside and Nikolay Umov independently co-invented the Poynting vector.

Dipole radiation of a dipole vertically in the page showing electric field strength (colour) and Poynting vector (arrows) in the plane of the page.

In Poynting's original paper and in many textbooks, it is usually denoted by S or N, and defined as: S = E x B, which is often called the Abraham form; where E is the electric field and H the magnetic field. (All bold letters represent vectors.) Occasionally an alternative definition in terms of electric field E and the magnetic flux density B is used. It is even possible to combine the displacement field D with the magnetic flux density B to get the Minkowski form of the Poynting vector, or use D and H to construct another. The choice has been controversial: Pfeifer et al.summarize the century-long dispute between proponents of the Abraham and Minkowski forms. The Poynting vector represents the particular case of an energy flux vector for electromagnetic energy. However, any type of energy has its direction of movement in space, as well as its density, so energy flux vectors can be defined for other types of energy as well, e.g., for mechanical energy. The Umov-Poynting vector discovered by Nikolay Umov in 1874 describes energy flux in liquid and elastic media in a completely generalized view.

Electromagnetic waves such as those we have described are traveling waves that transport energy from one region to another. For instance, in the wave described in equation 33-3 the and fields advance with time into regions where originally no field present and carry the energy density u with them as they advance. We can describe energy transfer in terms of energy transferred per unit time per unit cross-section or power per unit area, for an area perpendicular to the direction of wave travel.

To see how the energy flow is related to the fields, consider a stationary plane perpendicular to the x-axis that coincides with the wave front at a certain time. After this, the wave front moves a distance dx = cdt to the right of the plane. Ce an area A on this stationary plane (figure 33-11), we note that the energy in the

This energy passes through the area A in time dt. The energy flow per unit time per unit area, which we call S, is (in a vacuum)

Using Eqs. (33-9) and (33-21), we can derive the alternate forms

The units of S are energy per unit time per unit area, or power per unit area. SI unit of S is 1 J/sm or 1 W/m. we can define a vector quantity that describes both the magnitude and direction of the energy flow rate:
(Poyntingvector in a vacuum)

The vector is called the poynting vector; it was introduced by the British physicist John Poynting (1852-1914). Its direction is in the direction of propagation of the . Since and are perpendicular, the magnitude of is given by , this is the flow of energy per unit area and per unit time through a cross-section area perpendicular to the propagation direction. The total energy flow per