Electromagnetic radiation under explicit symmetry breaking

Phys Rev Lett. 2015 Apr 10;114(14):147701. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.114.147701. Epub 2015 Apr 10.

Abstract

We report our observation that radiation from a system of accelerating charges is possible only when there is explicit breaking of symmetry in the electric field in space within the spatial configuration of the radiating system. Under symmetry breaking, current within an enclosed area around the radiating structure is not conserved at a certain instant of time resulting in radiation in free space. Electromagnetic radiation from dielectric and piezoelectric material based resonators are discussed in this context. Finally, it is argued that symmetry of a resonator of any form can be explicitly broken to create a radiating antenna.