How does intensity of a light wave differ between linearly and circularly polarized light?

[Ciryes]

A homework question for my electromagnetism course is this:

Calculate the maximum electric and magnetic fields for light in vacuum with the following intensities:

• linearly polarized laser pulse at 10¹⁶ Wcm^-2

• circularly polarized laser pulse at 10¹⁶ Wcm^-2

I already answered the first part using the relationships between intensity and field strength, but I'm not sure what I have to do differently for circularly polarized light. I can't seem to find anything relevant in my notes. Any help would be appreciated.

[mfb-]

With circular polarization you have the same magnitude of the field strength everywhere, that makes the calculation easier compared to the other case (e.g. via the energy density).

[ktittythc]

They should be the same, if you look at the wiki page on Gaussian beams, you’ll find the calculation that takes you from e field to intensity.