Light propagation in generally covariant electrodynamics and the Fresnel equation

Abstract

Within the framework of generally covariant (pre-metric) electrodynamics, we specify a local vacuum spacetime relation between the excitation $H=(\mathcal{D},\mathcal{H})$ and the field strength $F=(E,B)$. We study the propagation of electromagnetic waves in such a spacetime by Hadamard's method and arrive, with the constitutive tensor density $\kappa \sim \partial H/\partial F$, at a Fresnel equation which is algebraic of 4th order in the wave covector. We determine how the different pieces of $\kappa$, in particular the axion and the skewon pieces, affect the propagation of light.

6 pages, uses ws-ijmpa.cls. Invited talk given at Journees Relativistes, University College Dublin, Sept. 2001. Will appear in Int.J.Mod.Phys.A

References in corpus (1)

• The Third Electromagnetic Constant of an Isotropic Medium:

Cited by in corpus (16)

• Causal structure and electrodynamics on Finsler spacetimes
• Geometry of physical dispersion relations
• Teleparallel theories of gravity as analogue of non-linear electrodynamics
• Curved spacetimes with local $\kappa$-Poincaré dispersion relation
• On possible skewon effects on light propagation
• On Kottler's path: origin and evolution of the premetric program in gravity and in electrodynamics
• Propagation of light in area metric backgrounds
• Caroll-Field-Jackiw electrodynamics in the pre-metric framework
• Covariant electrodynamics in linear media: Optical metric
• Spacetime structure and asymmetric metric from the premetric formulation of electromagnetism
• Birefringence in nonlinear anisotropic dielectric media
• Dilaton field and cosmic wave propagation
• Quantization of general linear electrodynamics
• Gravitational closure of matter field equations
• Finslerian extension of an anisotropic strange star in the domain of modified gravity
• Covariant kinematics of light in media and a generalized Raychaudhuri equation