Energy Flow for Reflecting & Interacting Beams

Geometric and physical optics provide intuition for understanding electromagnetic propagation. Other complementary intuitions are possible from energy flow. Extending upon the 2002 work of Wünscher, Hauptmann, and Herrmann, this paper tests their counter-intuitive rules of energy flow and presents Numerical Electromagnetic Code (NEC) derived results for energy flow within reflecting and interacting beams. In reflection, energy moves parallel to the reflecting surface. As beams interact, they exchange energy. Multiple reflections may yield an energy vortex. Energy flow offers valuable insights for antenna design and applications. These results highlight crucial but little appreciated electromagnetic physics: fields guide energy. Fields and energy are two different yet complementary phenomena and follow different trajectories. This has significant implications for how electromagnetism and quantum mechanics work.