On exceptional plane, surface, and compound waves

Abstract

How are the field profiles of exceptional plane waves, exceptional surface waves, and exceptional compound waves related to those of their unexceptional counterparts? This matter has been investigated in extensive numerical studies which have revealed that the transition from unexceptional to exceptional waves involves only smooth variations in the electric and magnetic field phasors, and in the time-averaged Poynting vector. Therefore, in terms of field profiles, exceptional plane waves, exceptional surface waves, and exceptional compound waves are practically indistinguishable from their unexceptional counterparts that propagate in directions in the immediate neighborhood of the exceptional waves.