Electromagnetic cavity to explore disordered systems

In the course of characterizing an electromagnetic cavity we have come to understand details of transmission and reflection traces, some of which may be useful as tools to investigate local modes in random media. We have demonstrated quantitative agreement of frequency shift observations with theory, have demonstrated that the spatial distribution of electric and magnetic fields can be measured using insulating and conducting spheres, and have used perturbation due to wires and disks to demonstrate the local direction of electric and magnetic fields. We have observed that not only frequency shifts but also spatial shifts of modes can be used to observe the intensity of interaction of modes with extended objects in the cavity.

This article originally appeared in Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications 386, 2007, Pages 633-639.