"Version: 20241201"--Title page verso.

Includes bibliographical references.

1. Fundamentals -- 1.1. Introduction -- 1.2. Universal properties of electromagnetic pulses -- 1.3. Conservation laws -- 1.4. Energy-momentum inequalities -- 1.5. Lorentz invariants -- Appendix 1A. Total angular momentum, energy velocities -- Appendix 1B. Dipole radiation -- Appendix 1C. The birth of radiation

2. Solutions of the wave equation -- 2.1. Vector and scalar potentials -- 2.2. General solutions of the wave equation -- 2.3. Solutions with both z - ct and z + ct space-time dependence -- 2.4. Pulses as superposition of beams -- 2.5. Bateman's integral solution -- 2.6. Compact forward-propagating waveforms -- 2.7. The oscillatory pulse GK -- Appendix 2A. Cylindrical integrals related to spherical sums -- Appendix 2B. Additional length parameter in wavefunctions -- Appendix 2C. The causal wavefunction GK in spheroidal-like coordinates

3. Electromagnetic pulses -- 3.1. E and B from solutions of the wave equation -- 3.2. TE and TM pulses -- 3.3. Self-dual complex fields, TE + iTM pulses -- 3.4. The TE + iTM Z-pulse -- 3.5. The TE pulse of Ziolkowski, Hellwarth-Nouchi -- 3.6. The Feng, Winful and Hellwarth pulse -- 3.7. Causal TE and TM pulses -- 3.8. Oscillatory TE and TM pulses formed from GK -- 3.9. Extent and divergence angle of TE and TM pulses based on GK -- 3.10. TE + iTM pulses based on GK -- Appendix 3A. Energy of the TE + iTM Z-pulse -- Appendix 3B. Energy, momentum, and angular momentum for TE and TM pulses -- Appendix 3C. Backflow in causal TE and TM pulses

4. Angular momentum -- 4.1. Intrinsic angular momentum -- 4.2. A TE + iTM self-dual pulse -- 4.3. Two self-dual 'CP' pulses -- 4.4. Pulses based on wavefunctions with azimuthal dependence -- 4.5. Causal TE + iTM pulses -- 4.6. Causal self-dual 'CP' pulses -- Appendix 4A. Evaluation of Jz for a TE + iTM pulse -- Appendix 4B. Singular integrals over products of Bessel functions -- Appendix 4C. Total energy and momentum of self-dual 'CP' pulses -- Appendix 4D. Total angular momentum of 'CP' pulses

5. Lorentz transformation of pulses -- 5.1. Lorentz transformation of scalar pulses -- 5.2. Transformation of electromagnetic pulses -- 5.3. A TE + iTM zero-momentum Z-pulse -- 5.4. A self-dual 'CP' pulse in its zero-momentum frame -- 5.5. Two TE + iTM pulses in their non-zero and zero-momentum frames -- 5.6. The TE G pulse in its zero-momentum frame -- 5.7. The oscillatory TE pulse based on GK -- Appendix 5A. The TE + iTM Z-pulse in its zero-momentum frame

6. Chirality -- 6.1. Chirality of electromagnetic fields -- 6.2. Chirality of TE and TM pulses -- 6.3. Self-dual electromagnetic fields -- 6.4. TE + iTM pulses -- 6.5. 'Circularly polarized' pulses based on G -- 6.6. Total chiral content of self-dual 'CP' pulses -- 6.7. Self-dual 'CP' pulses derived from v0 (p, z, t) and v1(p, 0, z, t) -- Appendix 6A. Chiral content of 'LP' pulses -- Appendix 6B. A helical 'linearly polarized' pulse

7. Polarization -- 7.1. Introduction, non-existence theorems -- 7.2. Two measures of the degree of linear polarization -- 7.3. TE and TM pulses -- 7.4. Self-dual TE + iTM pulses -- 7.5. 'Circularly polarized' ('CP') self-dual pulses -- 7.6. 'Linearly polarized' pulses, theory -- 7.7. 'LP' pulses based on GK -- 7.8. The [Pi] measure of linear polarization -- Appendix 7A. Calculation of the [Pi] measure of polarization -- Appendix 7B. [Pi]E for TE, TM, TE + iTM and 'CP' pulses

8. Summary and comparison of pulse properties -- 8.1. Definitions of TM and TE, TM + iTE, 'CP' and 'LP' pulses -- 8.2. Total pulse energy, momentum, angular momentum, chiral content -- 8.3. Pulses based on the wavefunctions Z and Z[plus minus] -- 8.4. Pulses based on the wavefunctions G and G[plus minus] -- 8.5. Pulses based on the wavefunctions V0 and V1 -- 8.6. Pulses based on the wavefunction GK -- 8.7. Pulses based on the wavefunction aeio2pGLK.

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This short monograph presents the theory of electromagnetic pulses in a simple and physical way. All pulses discussed are exact localized solutions of the Maxwell equations, and have finite energy, momentum and angular momentum. There are eight chapters: on Fundamentals, Solutions of the Wave Equation, Electromagnetic Pulses, Angular Momentum, Lorentz Transformation of pulses, Chirality, Polarization, and a final one summarizing and comparing various electromagnetic pulses and their properties. Eighteen Appendices cover mathematical or associated aspects. The subject matter is restricted to free-space classical electrodynamics, but contact is made with quantum theory in proofs that causal pulses are equivalent to superpositions of photons.Part of IPEM-IOP Series in Electromagnetics and Metamaterials.

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John Lekner is Emeritus Professor of theoretical physics at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. After an MSc at the University of Auckland and PhD at the University of Chicago, he taught at the Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge, where he was also Fellow and Tutor in Physics at Emmanuel College. He has worked in statistical physics, electromagnetism, quantum theory and fluid mechanics. He is the author of 170 papers and of the books "Theory of Reflection" (2ed, Springer 2016), "Electrostatics of conducting cylinders and spheres" (AIP Publishing 2021), and "Theory of electromagnetic beams" (Springer 2022).

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