FACTORIZATION OF THE HELMHOLTZ DETERMINANT OPERATOR FOR ANISOTROPIC MEDIA

The Helmholtz determinant operator is of main importance when solving basic electromagnetic problems. Its complicated dependence on the medi um dyadics makes finding analytic solutions very difficult. The soluti on process is essentially simplified if the operator can be factorized , i.e., written as a product of two simpler operators. In the present study, conditions for the medium parameters of the general anisotropic medium are studied under which the Helmholtz determinant is factoriza ble. It is found that, in addition to the previously known cases there are new classes of media with factorizable Helmholtz determinant oper ator. The result can be applied to finding analytic solutions to vario us electromagnetic Problems in these media, Dyadic formalism has been applied throughout in the analysis.