Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 13, 2026

Label-free Isolation and Enrichment of Cells Through Contactless Dielectrophoresis
Published on: September 3, 2013
Two-dimensional Green's function theory for the electrodynamics of a rotating medium.
Ben Zion Steinberg1, Adi Shamir, Amir Boag
1School of Electrical Engineering, Tel Aviv University, Ramat-Aviv, Tel-Aviv 69978, Israel.
Researchers derived an exact spectral representation for Green's functions in rotating environments, simplifying calculations for Maxwell's equations. This work offers a new view of optical responses in rotating systems, including the Sagnac effect.
Area of Science:
- Electromagnetism
- Theoretical Physics
- Optics
Background:
- Maxwell's equations govern electromagnetic phenomena.
- Rotating environments introduce complexities in physical system analysis.
- Green's functions are crucial for solving wave equations.
Purpose of the Study:
- To derive an exact spectral representation for the Green's function of Maxwell equations in a 2D homogeneous and rotating environment.
- To develop a formulation in the medium's rest frame for point source response.
- To provide a closed-form expression for slowly rotating media.
Main Methods:
- Derivation of an exact spectral representation for the Green's function.
- Formulation in the noninertial rest frame of the rotating medium.
- Development of an approximate expression for efficient evaluation, avoiding spherical harmonics summation.
Main Results:
- An exact spectral representation for the Green's function in a 2D rotating medium was derived.
- A closed-form expression for slowly rotating media at finite distances was obtained.
- An efficient approximate expression was developed and validated against the exact solution.
Conclusions:
- The spectral theory provides a comprehensive understanding of optical responses in rotating systems.
- The classical Sagnac effect emerges as a specific case within this framework.
- The derived Green's function simplifies analysis of electromagnetic phenomena in rotating environments.
Related Concept Videos
Plane Electromagnetic Waves I
The EM field is assumed to be a...
Electromagnetic Wave Equation
However, although electric and magnetic fields were first introduced as mathematical constructs to simplify the description of mutual forces between charges, a natural question emerges from Maxwell's equations: What...
Spherical Coordinates
Green’s Theorem
Extended Versions of Green’s Theorem
Vector Forms of Green’s Theorem

