Effective spacetime description of light propagation in linear magnetoelectric media
Formal analogies between gravitational and optical phenomena have been explored for over a century, providing valuable insights into kinematic aspects of general relativity. Here, this analogy is employed to study light propagation in linear magnetoelectric media from an effective spacetime perspective. Starting from Maxwell's equations in covariant form, it is shown that an effective metric can always be identified for linear, non-dispersive magnetoelectric materials. The effective metric is then used to construct analog models in the limit of geometric optics. Among the optical effects analyzed, it is shown that under reasonable assumptions on the magnitude of the magnetoelectric response, a one-way propagation region can be established, which behaves analogously to an event horizon.