Explore: Isotropic Media

Because much of the teaching of optics concentrates on isotropic media, treating anisotropic media as an optional topic, the assumption that the rays are

external electric field. Typical transparent media such as glasses are isotropic, which means that light behaves the same way no matter which direction

for general media, in terms of refractive indices, provided that θ1 and θ2 are taken as the dihedral angles; but if the media are isotropic, then n1 and

velocity of a particle equals the group velocity of the matter wave. In isotropic media or a vacuum the group velocity of a wave is defined by: v g = ∂ ω (

In physics, engineering and materials science, a bi-isotropic material is an isotropic medium where the electric and magnetic flux densities are linearly

A transversely isotropic (also known as polar anisotropic) material is one with physical properties that are symmetric about an axis that is normal to

light or other waves passing through a boundary between two different isotropic media, such as water, glass, or air. In optics, the law is used in ray tracing

refractive index. In isotropic media this results in wave propagation only if ε and μ have the same sign. In bi-isotropic media with χ assumed to be zero

will be interference consistent with wave properties. In homogeneous, isotropic media, electromagnetic radiation is a transverse wave, meaning that its oscillations

wavelength), and its direction is perpendicular to the wavefront. In isotropic media, this is also the direction of wave propagation. A closely related