Abstract
When plane electromagnetic waves, which are circularly polarized, are absorbed by a screen disposed perpendicularly to the direction of propagation, or are transformed with a suitable device into linearly polarized waves, they produce on the screen or device a mechanical torque, the intensity of which for unit surface is S/ω, where S is the Poynting vector and ω is the angular frequency of the wave. This effect was pointed out many years ago by A. Sadowsky1; and later J. H. Poynting2 gave a complete theory for it.
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References
Sadowsky, A., Acta et Comm. Imp. Univ. Jureviensis, 7, Nos. 1–3 (1899); 8, Nos. 1–2 (1900).
Poynting, J. H., Proc. Roy. Soc., 82, 560(1909).
Beth, R. A., Phys. Rev., 50, 115 (1936).
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CARRARA, N. Torque and Angular Momentum of Centimetre Electromagnetic Waves. Nature 164, 882–884 (1949). https://doi.org/10.1038/164882c0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/164882c0
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