Forward Scattering of Loaded and Unloaded Antennas

Forward scattering of antennas is related to antenna performance via the forward-scattering sum rule. The forward-scattering sum rule is an integral identity that shows that a weighted integral of the extinction cross section over all spectrum is proportional to the static polarizability of the antenna structure. Here, the forward-scattering sum rule is experimentally verified for loaded, short-circuit, and open-circuit cylindrical dipole antennas. It is also shown that the absorption efficiency cannot be greater than 1/2 for reciprocal linearly polarized lossless matched antennas with a symmetric radiation pattern in the forward and backward directions.