Anderson localization of electromagnetic waves in random arrays of dielectr
ic cylinders confined within a planar metallic waveguide is studied. The di
sordered dielectric medium is modeled by a system of randomly distributed t
wo-dimensional electric dipoles. An effective theoretical approach based on
the method of images is developed. A clear distinction between isolated lo
calized waves (which exist already in finite media) and the band of localiz
ed waves (which appears only in the limit of the infinite medium) is presen
ted. The Anderson localization emerging in the limit of an infinite medium
is observed both in finite-size scaling analysis of transmission and in the
properties of the spectra of some random matrices. [S1063-651X(99)04203-8]
.