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The Effect of a Non‐Linear Medium on Electromagnetic Waves
Author(s) -
Novak Miroslav M.
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
fortschritte der physik/progress of physics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.469
H-Index - 71
eISSN - 1521-3978
pISSN - 0015-8208
DOI - 10.1002/prop.2190370105
Subject(s) - curvature , electromagnetic radiation , physics , scalar (mathematics) , photon , space (punctuation) , electromagnetic mass , gauge (firearms) , free space , classical mechanics , quantum electrodynamics , optics , mathematics , geometry , computer science , materials science , metallurgy , operating system
Abstract Possible modifications of some of the properties of the electromagnetic wave by a medium in which it propagates, are studied. The mechanism for the mass generation is investigated. It is shown that a medium may be replaced, for some purposes, by a curved space. Furthermore, if the non‐linear interaction terms between the electromagnetic wave and the curvature of space‐time are included, it is found that the resulting photons acquire mass, proportional to the curvature scalar. This is further supported by the conclusions following from the analysis of the gauge theories. Some of the consequences of this non‐linear interaction are then examined.