Role of group velocity in tracking field energy in linear dielectrics

A new context for the group delay function (valid for pulses of arbitrary b andwidth) is presented for electromagnetic pulses propagating in a uniform linear dielectric medium. The traditional formulation of group velocity is recovered by taking a narrowband limit of this generalized context. The arr ival time of a light pulse at a point in space is defined using a time expe ctation integral over the Poynting vector. The delay between pulse arrival times at two distinct points consists of two parts: a spectral superpositio n of group delays and a delay due to spectral reshaping via absorption or a mplification. The use of the new context is illustrated for pulses propagat ing both superluminally and subluminally. The inevitable transition to subl uminal behavior for any initially superluminal pulse is also demonstrated. (C) 2001 Optical Society of America.