Degrees of freedom of the field and maximum directivity

Paper i proceeding, 2016

This contribution discusses the relationship between the number of degrees of freedom (DoF) and the maximum directivity for an arbitrary set of sources enclosed by a given spherical surface. In particular, it is shown that the number of DoF is equal to twice the maximum directivity. This provides a directivity limitation for arbitrarily sized antennas, thus, extending the validity of the known formulas for electrically large and electrically small antennas.