Electric field of a laser

[Ryan Thunder]

Ok, I know that a light wavelet is the combination of an electric field and a magnetic field.

Can somebody who knows explain how I can calculate the amplitude of the electric field in this wave?

Actually, better yet, could somebody give me some hints regarding a good approach to use? I learn better if I do it myself, so I'd prefer not to be just handed the answer.

Thanks very much in advance.

[Surlethe]

Off the top of my head, try using Maxwell's equations, look up (or, if you're adventurous, find) a solution for a laser, and go from there. I haven't the time to work through it, though, so my intuition to use that as a starting point may be baseless.

[SpacedTeddyBear]

If you treat a wavelet as a sinusoidal plane wave, you can express the motion of the wave as:
E(x,t)= Emax*sin(wt-kx)

Where E(x,t) is the phase of the wave, Emax is the central maximum, 'w' is the angular frequency, and k is the wave-number. If you know/can solve the arguement of sin, than you should be able to know the amplitude of the wave at any given point...... at least thats what I think of the top of my head.

[Kuroneko]

In the idealization of a perfectly monochromatic and collimated laser, there will be only a single frequency present. Review Poynting vectors to see the relationship between the electric and magnetic fields and the energy density. You will probably need to make some assumptions about the laser; to begin with, assume a continuous power output with constant intensity (as opposed to, say, a Gaussian intensity distribution) with circular polarization, and see how, if so, your answer changes with more general assumptions.