On the refractive index for a nonmagnetic two-component medium: resolution of a controversy The refractive index of a dielectric medium comprising both passive and inverted components in its permittivity was determined using two methods: (i) in the time domain, a finite-difference algorithm to compute the frequency-domain reflectance from reflection data for a pulsed plane wave that is normally incident on a dielectric half-space, and (ii) in the frequency domain, the deflection of an obliquely incident Gaussian beam on transmission through a dielectric slab. The dielectric medium was found to be an active medium with a negative real part for its refractive index. Thereby, a recent controversy in the scientific literature was resolved. Published as: Opt. Commun., Vol. 280, pp. 120-125 (2007) DOI: 10.1016/j.optcom.2007.08.025 arXiv categories: physics.optics physics.class-ph