Can someone help me visualize how the direction of the wave vector can be different from the one of the poynting vector in a scenario like a lossy medium? I'm not seeing it.
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asked Aug 18, 2018 at 22:39
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$\begingroup$ If anything they do not have the same dimensions. Do you mean a situation where they do not point in the same direction? $\endgroup$– ZeroTheHeroCommented Aug 19, 2018 at 1:19
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$\begingroup$ @ZeroTheHero Yes! $\endgroup$– JobHunter69Commented Aug 19, 2018 at 1:38
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$\begingroup$ See physics.stackexchange.com/q/354728/36194 and answers therein. $\endgroup$– ZeroTheHeroCommented Aug 19, 2018 at 1:41
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$\begingroup$ Why did you add to your question the detail of a lossy medium? Is it really relevant to you? I think that it would be much simpler to consider the case of an evanescent wave at the flat interface between two semi-infinite, linear, loss-less and homogeneous media. In this case, it is possible to show that the poynting vector will be parallel to the interface, while the wave vector will have a purely imaginary component perpendicular to it. IMO, this is maybe the best simple example for testing your understanding of all this stuff. $\endgroup$– JackICommented Aug 19, 2018 at 5:21
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$\begingroup$ @JackI I thought a lossy medium would be the simplest scenario. Since that's not the case, I'll check out your scenario $\endgroup$– JobHunter69Commented Aug 19, 2018 at 19:07
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