Ray interpretation of the transition radiation process in a waveguide

Abstract

The paper demonstrates the geometric optic properties of the transition radiation (TR) of an ultrarelativistic point-like charged particle crossing the transverse wall of a circular semi-infinite waveguide with ideally conducting walls. It is shown that the rays forming the TR field emanate from the point of entry and obey the laws of geometric optics. The TR field at the observation point is formed from geometric-optical rays multi re-reflected from the waveguide wall.