In many cases one cannot simply say that a field is or is not "evanescent" – having the Poynting vector average to zero in some direction (or all directions). In most cases where they exist, evanescent fields are simply thought of and referred to the same as all other electric or magnetic fields involved, without any special recognition of those fields' evanescence. The term's use is mostly limited to distinguishing a part of a field or solution in those cases where one might only expect the fields of a propagating wave.