A SPECTRAL-THEORETIC APPROACH FOR THE SOLUTION OF MAXWELLS EQUATIONS IN STRATIFIED MEDIA

In the present work, the problem of electromagnetic wave propagation i n three-dimensional stratified media is studied. The method of decoupl ing the electric and magnetic fields is implemented, and the spectral approach is adopted, componentwise, to the vector equation involving t he electric field. Operational calculus of self-adjoint, positive oper ators in suitable Hilbert spaces is used to solve the corresponding in itial value problems. The spectral families of these operators for the cases of the whole space and of a finite layer are constructed. A dis cussion on the applicability of the obtained results to physical probl ems is also included. (C) 1998 B. G. Teubner Stuttgart-John Wiley & So ns Ltd.