Electromagnetic Wave Interactions With an

Electron and the Trajectory of the Electron

Kyle Featherston
Mark Masters
4/28/15

To answer the question of how electromagnetic waves interact with

electrons, the electromagnetic wave must first be defined. It is comprised of
two components; the electric field wave and the magnetic field wave. For a
wave traveling in the positive z direction (this is just to establish a point of
reference; it can travel in any direction), the plane wave equations for the
electric field and magnetic field waves are

Ewave =
Eo ei (kzwt)

i(kz wt)

B wave=
Bo e

Eo =wave polarization vector , k =number of waves

, w=angular frequency ( kc )

( )

However, these equations can further be rewritten due to Eulers formula,

which is defined as eix = cos(x) + isin(x). They can be rewritten as

Ewave (z , t)=
E o cos (kz wt) +

Eo isin(kz wt )

B wave ( z ,t)=
B o cos (kz wt) +

B o isin (kzwt )

The directions of the fields can be derived from looking at the waves axis of
motion. In a plane electromagnetic wave, the cross product of the electric
field and the magnetic field must always equal the direction of motion the
wave is traveling in. In this case, the cross product must always produce the
positive z vector. To figure out which direction is which, take the inverse
cofactor expansion of the cross product matrix

[ ]
^x ^y z^
a b c
d e f

Where

Ewave ( z , t )=[ a ,b ,c ]

and

B wave ( z , t ) =[d , e , f ] . Since the only resulting

vector can be the z unit vector, this produces

[ ]

^z a b
d e

Since each field only fluctuates in one direction and since this must produce
a positive z vector, since the wave is traveling along the positive z axis, this
means either cells a and e are filled with positive values or b and d are filled

with positive values. In order for that to happen, the electric field must
fluctuate in the x direction, and the magnetic field must fluctuate in the y
direction. Thus, the above equations can be rewritten as

Ewave ( z , t)= ^x Eo cos (kz wt) +

^x E o isin( kzwt)

B wave (z ,t )= ^y Bo cos (kz wt) +

^y Bo i sin(kzwt )

However, since only the real parts of the wave affect the trajectory of the
electron, the resulting plane wave equations are

Ewave ( z , t)= ^x Eo cos (kz wt)

B wave (z ,t)= ^y Bo cos (kz wt)

Also, since the kz term only applies to how many cycles of the wave have
passed, if we really wanted to observe the plane wave at any one time, it
would be

Ewave ( z , t)= ^x Eo cos (-wt)

B wave (z ,t)= ^y Bo cos (-wt)

An interesting property about the electromagnetic wave is that according to

Maxwells equations, the reciprocal of the electric field amplitude over the

magnetic field amplitude must always equal c. In addition, there is a

trigonometric identity that we can apply in cos(-t) = -cost(t). So we get

Ewave ( z , t )=^x E o cos (wt)

B wave ( z , t ) = ^y

Eo
cos (wt)
c

The sum of the forces on a particle can be written as the particles mass
times the sum of the second order differential position vectors. In this case,
there are two forces acting on the electron; an electric force and a magnetic
force. However, since each force only acts on one axis of motion (x for
electric field and y for magnetic field), the second order positional vectors
are directly related to the respective force relevant to its direction.
Furthermore, there is no force acting on the electron that affects the z axis of
motion. Therefore, the second order potion function of z is constantly equal
to zero, which means that z is always equal to 0. As such, the forces acting
on the electron can be written as

2 x
=e
Ewave ( 0 , t ) =e ^x E o cos ( wt )
t 2

2 y
m 2 =e v x
Bwave
t

In its current form, the magnetic force is not integratible. However, it helps
know that the velocity vector is simply comprised of the first order
v

differential equation vectors. So

v =

can be also expressed as

x y z
x^,
^
y,
z,
^
t
t
t

Now the cross product can be done. The result is

2 y x e E o
=
cos ( wt) ^z
c
t2 t

But what is the partial of x with respect to t equal to? The answer is to simply
integrate the second order x position function with respect to t, which has

already been calculated. Thus

x
t

becomes

x e Eo
=
sin ( wt) ^x
t
mw

The x unit vector crossed with the z unit vector produces the y unit vector.
Thus the second order partial of y with respect to t is

o 2

e2
2 y
= ^y
t2

This still cannot be integratedat least not in its current form. However, the
sin(wt)cost(wt) can be simplified into sin(2wt)/2 using the double angle
identity. At long last, the second order differential equation of y with respect
to t is
E

o 2

e2
2 y
= ^y
t2

After integrating twice with respect to their respective axes, the position of
the electron can finally be written as a parametric function of t. The position
with respect to t is

x=

e Eo
mw

cos ( wt )

o 2

e2
y=