i think i've asked this a number of times on different posts stemming from various discussions but i don't think this question was in the wrong thread. so i've decided to make a new thread for this.
so what 'IS' an EM wave? i understand that the acceleration of charges could produce a wave (disturbance) in the E-field, and hence a sinusoidal oscillation of the charge would produce an EM wave; if all EM radiation are the same, except for their wavelengths, then this implies that EM radiation is just a transverse wave in the electric field right? ie, it is a transverse wave of the electric field?
the process i gave describes the production of RF, which is radiated radially (in 2-D) from the antenna. but if you put a photodetector around the antenna, would it detect individual photons?
so what 'IS' an EM wave? i understand that the acceleration of charges could produce a wave (disturbance) in the E-field, and hence a sinusoidal oscillation of the charge would produce an EM wave; if all EM radiation are the same, except for their wavelengths, then this implies that EM radiation is just a transverse wave in the electric field right? ie, it is a transverse wave of the electric field?
the process i gave describes the production of RF, which is radiated radially (in 2-D) from the antenna. but if you put a photodetector around the antenna, would it detect individual photons?