Electromagnetic fields in the presence of rotating bodies

Field calculations in the presence of rotating bodies with symmetry of revolution can be performed in the (inertial) laboratory frame of reference. Specific results are presented for a rotating circular cylinder immersed in a plane wave of the E or H type. Particular emphasis is put on the low-frequency limit, but some numerical data are also given for a typical frequency in the "resonance" region. The analysis becomes more complicated in the absence of symmetry of revolution. It is then necessary to solve the problem in a rotating system of coordinates. Maxwell's equations are written in these coordinates, together with the relevant constitutive equations and boundary conditions. The general formalism is applied to a typical two-dimensional configuration, viz., a cylinder immersed in an incident E wave. Considerable simplification obtains if all material velocities are negligible with respect to c, a condition which is always met in practice. Even simpler results are obtained if the cross-sectional dimensions of the cylinder are small with respect to λ. Some numerical results are presented, at low frequencies, for a dielectric cylinder of rectangular cross section.