On 20/04/2018 21:10, Gareth's Downstairs Computer wrote:
What I seek is a graphical / pictorial representation of
the growth and collapse of fields around and antenna as it
radiates.

A corollary being the question that if the local inductive
and capacitive fields collapse and regrow on every half cycle,
why does not the radiative field also collapse back? What
causes them to radiate outwards?

Despite having (at some time, 45+ years ago) studied up
to the differential versions of Maxwell's Equations, this
(hopefully) elementary explanation has eluded me.

A picture paints a thousand words, and like Richard
Feynman before me, I can soar with the eagles with the
highest science but I need a seat-of-the-pants
understanding upon which to anchor my knowledge.

eg, I once had a problem coming to terms with
the Vector Magnetic Potential A, but understood
it when standing a bit close to the edge of the
platform as a railway train went past creating
little eddies of wind!


It may be interesting to apply a semi-graphical method; I was introduced
to one example way back in the mechanical content of my electrical
engineering studies -


http://rspa.royalsocietypublishing.o...0/329.full.pdf

Now I'm sure an erstwhile polymath could work something like this for
e-m waves.

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