The statistical properties of electromagnetic fields with application to radiation and scattering

It is pointed out that determining the relationships between different average values is an important step in any physics-based statistical theory. If these relationships exist and exhibit certain properties, then probability densities or distributions can be assigned to the field variables and the transition from an average-value theory to a statistical theory is complete. For electromagnetics, no such average-value relationships have been demonstrated to exist. The derivation of these relationships and their range of validity are considered here. The authors limit their attention to the fields inside a complex cavity, but with the ultimate goal of deriving the statistics of the far radiated and scattered fields of complex envelopes. It is noted that the most immediate application of statistical EM theory is to all aspects of reverberation-chamber testing, which could lead to better chamber and test design improved data interpretation and storage, and more efficient characterization of the response of equipment being tested.< >