Contributions to the Theory of Wave Propagation on Long Wires Above Ground.

The problem of an infinite wire above a plane infinite ground has been investigated, with a view toward studying the types of waves that this structure can support with no incident radiation. It was found that, although a propagation constant can be meaningfully defined, the concepts of impedance and admittance per unit length cannot be simply generalized from transmission-line theory. The difficulty associated with the solutions of the two-dimensional Helmholtz equation is discussed, and the outgoing waves that increase in amplitude exponentially with the distance from the source are reasonably interpreted.