If there was a way to see the electromagnetic waves that is all around us, i.e.
ID: 1324251 • Letter: I
Question
If there was a way to see the electromagnetic waves that is all around us, i.e. see the electric and magnetic fields spreading away from an antenna say, how would it look? I mean if we were to freeze the picture to a single instant of time, and somehow construct a 3D diagram of the spreading electromagnetic disturbance how would it look. Considering that in nature, a change in electric flux creates a change in magnetic flux and vice versa and they sustain each other as they spread out, how would the picture look? starting from a single circle of electric field, would it create infinite circles of magnetic field perpendicular to itself around its circular periphery and those magnetic fields in turn give rise to infinite circular electric fields around themselves? This is a poor explanation possibly but the point is just how the EM wave propagates and how it looks like in reality?
Explanation / Answer
It would "look" just like the electromagnetic waves you do see. Photons in the visible spectrum are the same as photons in the radio spectrum, they just have different wavelengths. If you want a rigorous description of a quantitative phenomenon, you'll have to be more specific, but there are plenty of them out there if you look around.
In electromagnetic field theory, wave fronts like those produced by a radio antenna are considered plane waves. On the scale of individual photons, though, the picture is totally different. The 'detail' of the image you are looking for depends on your paradigm. You have to pick one (moving test charge and plane waves) or the other (electric and magnetic fields of a photon)