Electromagnetic Back-Scattering from Cylindrical Wires

The problem of electromagnetic back‐scattering or radar response from cylindrical wires has been investigated using a variational method. The relation between this method and the induced emf method is discussed. To demonstrate the flexibility of the variational calculation different trial functions have been used to determine the numerical values of the back‐scattering cross section for the case of broadside incidence. The boundary condition regarding the currents at the ends of the wire is also carefully examined.