Talk:Waveguide (optics)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

	This article is within the scope of WikiProject Physics, which collaborates on articles related to physics.	Physics Portal
Start	This article has been rated as Start-Class on the assessment scale.
???	This article has not yet received an importance rating within physics.
This article has been rated but has no comments. If appropriate, please review the article and leave comments here to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the article and what work it will need.

I'm new here, but I am curious what the criteria for merging pages is. I see no reason why the optical waveguide and electromagnetic waveguides shouldn't be merged. While different materials may be used, both have applications in the hardware of communication systems.

I am also thinking that a discussion of waveguide modes, including the bessel function solution of Maxwell's equations could help further improve the article. I can do this once I get my hand on some of my old textbooks if no one objects.

They were previously all one article, Waveguide, but they got split up when I made a stupid suggestion. I suggested, if the main article were written to include not just electromagnetic waveguides, but also acoustic waveguides, etc., it could be split up this way. Another editor split it all up, leaving a bunch of stubs. See the discussion at Talk:Waveguide. So far, nothing useful has been written about acoustic waveguides, or other types.

I would recommend if write an explanation of waveguides from the p.o.v. of Maxwell's equations, the best place for it is Waveguide (electromagnetism). If your explanation covers dielectric rod waveguides (as are common in optics), then I'd put it here. If you explain both together, I'd recommend merging Waveguide (optics) into Waveguide (electromagnetism), with an explanation that optical waves are em waves at very high frequencies. -- The Photon 01:43, 6 September 2006 (UTC)

Yeah, I was thinking of perhaps explaining waveguides from the POV of Maxwell's equations and merging the too. A question though: is there a way to create a "some segments of this article are technical" warning? I've seen it before in several articles on DSP. Fred138

I only know about the templates at WP:TEMP. Those mostly are for flagging "problems" with an article. There is one of those about "not understandable for a nontechnical reader" or something like that. If you've seen one you like, you could copy the code from that page. -- The Photon 01:53, 8 September 2006 (UTC)

I vote to merge, the similaritys far outweigh the differences, and optic frequencies are just a particular frequency range of the EM spectrum, hence would be valid in the Waveguide (electromagnetism) article anyway. --Ozhiker 15:22, 28 October 2006 (UTC)

A discussion on this is also happening at Talk:Waveguide (electromagnetism).

I oppose a merger, or at least advise careful consideration. Hollow metal microwave guides are sufficiently different from dielectric optical waveguides to merit two articles, and there is plenty to say about each. Whether one makes the break by wavelength or by hollow metal vs. dielectric is a matter for discussion.--Srleffler 08:52, 11 November 2006 (UTC)