Light is an electromagnetic wave, and because of this it possesses unique features that are not possessed by other types of waves such as sound waves and water waves. This book will be an in-depth textbook introducing and covering all topics related to the fact that light is a transverse electromagnetic wave. It will begin with a discussion of the history of Maxwell's equations, from which the wave properties of light were first deduced, and then move into the fundamentals of electromagnetic waves, such as the polarization of light, energy and momentum conservation, and basic solutions of Maxwell's equations. From there, it will move into more practical topics: light propagation in matter of various types, light propagation through interfaces, light propagation in waveguides (like fibre optic cables), and light scattering.

Key Features:

Includes descriptions of modern optical phenomena and areas of research, such as plasmonic, metamaterials, and optical tweezing A book dedicated to electromagnetic phenomena in optics Builds a complete description of electromagnetic wave phenomena starting from the history of Maxwell's equations Provides an introduction to many topics typically only found in specialized texts, such as plasmonics, fiber optics, and computational methods