Negative Refraction as a Source of Some Pedagogical Problems

V.G. Veselago Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, 9 Institutskii per., Dolgoprudny, 141700 Moscow Region, Russia 2 A.M. Prokhorov Institute of General Physics, RAS, Russia, 38 Vavilov str., 119991, Moscow, Russia

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Received: 3 09 2007;

The appearance of material with negative values of dielectric and magnetic permeabilities ε and μ and with negative index of refraction n forces to revise the accustomed forms of some well-known formulae of electrodynamics. This is connected with fact, that these correlations in repressing majority of sources is written in tacit suggestion that magnetic permeability of most of materials is μ =1, factor of refraction n= ε and is undoubtedly executed the correlation n > 0. Such approach could be named as “nonmagnetic” . However, if n < 0, this nonmagnetic approach can bring very hard mistakes.

DOI: 10.12693/APhysPolA.112.777 PACS numbers: 78.20.Ci, 41.20.Jb