Transient electric and magnetic fields associated with establishing a finite electrostatic dipole

Abstract

We obtain analytical solutions in the time domain for the electric and magnetic fields associated with establishing a finite electrostatic dipole. We assume that a simple source current distribution, a square pulse of current, produces the dipole, and solve for the fields produced by that source current distribution using Maxwell’s equations. Salient features of the fields are discussed from a physical point of view. We outline a technique to determine in the time domain the electric and magnetic fields produced by any arbitrary time-varying current propagating along a straight antenna, given the calculated fields due to a short square pulse of current.