When designing waveguides, a good knowledge of wall currents related to specific modes is inevitable. They play a rather subordinate role in the literature than electromagnetic (EM) mode fields themselves. The present work aims at superior numerical performance for calculating regular current patterns related to several modes in waveguides with different cross-sections by utilizing partly modified Whittaker potentials.
Globally, these eddy currents form together with the electric mode field solenoidal patterns. To allow for efficient modeling, an analytical Helmholtz decomposition (HD) technique is applied locally at single walls. In particular, this separation into solenoidal and irrotational parts is not yet widely used for radio frequency (RF) scenarios. Moreover, a profound gauge analysis of ordinary potentials representing the irrotational part of wall currents is provided, which reveals limitations of gauge fixing. This is done by a certain combination of gauge fixing and gauge transformation, and aims to show that conventional gauge freedom is only entirely valid if exclusively solenoidal potentials are used. In addition, a balancing technique resolves that issue.
An educational value is especially given by individual handling of decomposed surface currents with Whittaker potentials or differently gauged ordinary potentials.
T. Reum
Whittaker Potential Approaches and Gauge Issues of Decomposed Regular Waveguide Wall Currents
IEEE Open Journal of Antennas and Propagation, vol. 7, no. 5, pp.1512-1536, October 2026.
doi: 10.1109/OJAP.2026.3702201
Contact person: Dr.-Ing. Thomas Reum
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