Topological aspects of zero modes in cavity resonators

Abstract

We discuss the relationship between the zero modes of electromagnetic fields in a cavity resonator and the cavity's topological characteristics. We show that the dimension of the electromagnetic zero-mode space coincides with the dimension of the corresponding homology group of the cavity. Moreover, we prove that the alternating sum of the dimensions of the electromagnetic zero-mode spaces is closely related to the Euler characteristic of the cavity boundary, and hence to the integral of the curvature.