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arXiv · 0705.0830

On the refractive index for a nonmagnetic two-component medium: resolution of a controversy

Joseph B. Geddes III·Tom G. Mackay·Akhlesh Lakhtakia
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Abstract

The refractive index of a dielectric medium comprising both passive and inverted components in its permittivity was determined using two methods: (i) in the time domain, a finite-difference algorithm to compute the frequency-domain reflectance from reflection data for a pulsed plane wave that is normally incident on a dielectric half-space, and (ii) in the frequency domain, the deflection of an obliquely incident Gaussian beam on transmission through a dielectric slab. The dielectric medium was found to be an active medium with a negative real part for its refractive index. Thereby, a recent controversy in the scientific literature was resolved.

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Joseph B. Geddes III, Tom G. Mackay, Akhlesh Lakhtakia. 2007-05-07. On the refractive index for a nonmagnetic two-component medium: resolution of a controversy. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.optcom.2007.08.025

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