Electromagnetic-Magnetoelectric Duality for Waveguides

Abstract

We develop a theory for waveguides that respects the duality of electromagnetism, namely the symmetry of the equations arising through inclusion of magnetic monopoles in addition to including electrons (electric monopoles). The term magnetoelectric potential is sometimes used to signify the magnetic-monopole induced dual to the usual electromagnetic potential. To this end, we introduce a general theory for describing modes and characteristics of waveguides based on mixed-monopole materials, with both electric and magnetic responses. Our theory accommodates exotic media such as double-negative, near-zero and zero-index materials, and we demonstrate that our general theory exhibits the electromagnetic duality that would arise if we were to incorporate magnetic monopoles into the media. We consider linear, homogeneous, isotropic waveguide materials with slab and cylindrical geometries. To ensure manifest electromagnetic duality, we construct generic electromagnetic susceptibilities that are dual in both electric charges and magnetic monopoles using a generalized Drude-Lorentz model that manifests this duality. Our model reduces to standard cases in appropriate limits. We consider metamaterials and metamaterial waveguides, as well as metal guides, as examples of waveguides constructed of mixed-monopole materials, to show the generality of our waveguide theory. In particular, we show that, in slab and cylindrical waveguides, exchanging electric and magnetic material properties leads to the exchange of transverse magnetic and transverse electric modes and dispersion equations, which suggests a good test of the potential duality of waveguides. This theory has the capability to predict waveguide behavior under an exchange of electromagnetic parameters from the dual waveguide.