direction i.e., in the azimuthal direction in a cross sectional plane, after one complete rotation we reach to the same location. In other words, the function is periodic in over . In direction, the function is a harmonic function that is,

where is an integer. This functional form represents a field which will repeat itself after one rotation or when changes by multiples of .
Substituting for the in the wave equation the only unknown function remains to be evaluated is .
The wave equation therefore becomes
(9) |