pez wrote:
Dear Mr. Cecil Moore,

I am terribly sorry but I am not so sure that
I am in position to follow your argument,
except perhaps that the equation

| ...
| |b1|^2 = |s11*a1|^2 + |s12*a2|^2 + 2*s11*a1*s12*a2
| ...

needs a modification to
the third term on its right hand side,
in which, instead of

2*s11*a1*s12*a2

we have to set

2*Re{[s11*a1]*Conjg[s12*a2]}

That is taken care of by the cosine of the angle between
a1 and a2. Note no magnitude bars around that term in my
equation. a1*a2 is phasor multiplication, a1*a2*cos(theta).

Therefore,
I can only guess that
this subtle distinction is the source of the trouble
because this is maybe due to the sure existence of two,
after Kurokawa, different physical meanings
for the same physical phenomenon.

And finally, unfortunately enough,
it seems that there are maybe more than a finite number
of possible such physical meanings for the same physical phenomenon...

What I was trying to point out is the similarities between
Dr. Best's QEX article term, 2*sqrt(P1)*sqrt(P2)*cos(theta),
In _Optics_, Hecht's interference term 2*sqrt(I1*I2)*cos(theta),
and the above 2*s11*s12*a1*a2(cos theta) term. Seems to me, they
are all interference terms. If (0 deg = theta 90 deg) then the
interference is constructive. If (90 deg theta = 180 deg) then
the interference is destructive.
--
73, Cecil, W5DXP