why we just consider electric field dimensions for polarization, why not magnetic ? As light waves are both electromagnetic waves?

Question

anonymous · Answer

Maybe @Vincent-Lyon.Fr  can help!.. i would like to know the answer too!

vincent-lyon.fr · Answer

In a travelling wave, B field is automatically deduced from E field, so its knowledge does not add any information to the polarisation of the wave. E was chosen to name the type of polarisation.
For guided waves, the case is different and the possible modes include different types of behaviours for E and for B.

anonymous · Answer

I would like to add another question. while taking particle nature of light does PHOTON travel in both E & B direction alternatively ? As we see in most visualizations ?

anonymous · Answer

photon picture is very different from wave picture... photons would travel in a direction perpendicular to both E and B fields though.. (direction of wave propogation)

anonymous · Answer

that mean photon don't have linear frequency ?

anonymous · Answer

yea.. right !!

anonymous · Answer

If it does not have so, then what is the thing that we take frequency and wavelength of photon, how much I remember I have studied that light waves are like transverse waves ?

anonymous · Answer

yea well. u need to digest the hard fact, that light sometimes behaves as waves (when it shows interference, and diffraction .. like colors in CD, or colors in morpho butterflies), also it behaves like particles (lil subtle, blackbody radiation, compton effect, basically spectra due to various gases like hydrogen spectrum).. 
so we accept dual nature of light.. 
therefore sometimes we think of it as waves when we deal with wave phenomena and deal with its wave characteristics (like wavelength and frequency), and sometimes as particles, and deal with particle characteristics like (momentum or mass)

anonymous · Answer

!'ve digestd :P thanks @Mashy  I'm impressed by your concepts. 

HOwever, can v conclude that the frequency & wavelength we measure of light is actually the characteristics of EM wave, not of photon. Right ? and when this wave as a whole act like a particle, we just name that thing PHOTON ?