Features of the transition radiation field

The method of mirror images is used to calculate transition radiation (TR) at the plane interface between a vacuum and an ideally conducting medium. The total field is considered (that is, the TR field plus the fields of the uniformly moving charge and its mirror image) and its evolution in space and time is traced, considering fields as functions of space coordinates and time rather than represented by spectral components. Conditions are analyzed under which the separation and measurement of a TR field are possible.