Energy Flow in Polarization and Beam Splitting

Energy flow streamlines yield insights to the physics of polarized electromagnetic waves. This paper uses Numerical Electromagnetic Code (NEC) analysis of energy flow to validate the sometimes counter-intuitive energy flow rules of Wünscher, Hauptmann, and Herrmann. Specific cases include energy flow between interacting orthogonally polarized electromagnetic beams and energy flow associated with electromagnetic beams interacting with polarizers at normal and obliques angles of incidence. Fields and energy are two different yet complementary phenomena and follow different trajectories. Understanding this crucial but little appreciated fact of electromagnetic science, that fields guide energy, provides insights to the physics of polarization.