Diffraction of Electromagnetic Waves at Black Bodies: Generalization of Kirchhoff-Kottler Theory

This chapter serves as a historical introduction to the study of edge waves. No less important, this chapter also introduces Kirchhoff-Kottler theory, which is shown to be useful in the analysis of some actual problems. Specifically, it is interesting to determine whether it is possible to use layers of radar absorbing material to eliminate the electromagnetic field scattered by an object. If this is impossible, then to what extent can one decrease the field scattered from an ideal surface that completely absorbs all energy incident upon it? These questions lead us to the well known 'black body' problem.