Electrodynamics A
PHY 5346, Fall 2007
Prof. Alexander Volya
phone:644-1804, e-mail volya@phy.fsu.edu
Lectures: Tuesday and Thursday 9:30-10:45 am at
HCB 0314
Midterm Exams October 11
Final Exam: Monday: December
10, 2007, 7:30 – 9:30 a.m.
Office hours: Tuesday 3:00-4:00 and Thursday 2:00 - 3:00 pm at 208 Keen, or by
appointment.
Textbook: L.D. Landau and E.M. Lifshits, The Classical
Theory of
Fields (Course of Theoretical Physics, vol. 2, 4th edition),
chapters I - IX.
Recommended Textbook:
Melvin Schwartz, Principles of Electrodynamics
J.D. Jackson, Classical Electrodynamics.
Grading:
30% Homework (assigned weekly on Tuesday and due the following week Tuesday)
20% Midterm
20% Class participation via quizzes
30% Final
Homeworks
The homeworks, solutions and other class material are distributed using the FSU blackboard system at http://campus.fsu.edu. The blackboard system is also used to report grades. The homeworks are issued on Tuesdays according to the schedule, and are due a week later, on the following Tuesday at our regular class time. The typical grading time is one week. You are welcome and are encouraged do discuss grades if you feel that the grader was tough on you, but coming to my office be prepared to show your understanding of the subject.
Quizzes
Short 15 minute quizzes will be given at random during the semester. The purpose of quizzes is to check your understanding of subjects discussed on lectures.
Program of the course
Relativity. Minkowski world. Lorentz transformations and Lorentz
covariance. Relativistic kinematics. Energy and momentum. Decays and collisions
of particles. Ch. 1-7, 9, 11, 13, 14; Jackson Ch. 11.
Electromagnetic field. Charges and currents, continuity equation. The
least action principle. Derivation of Maxwell equations. Charge motion in static
fields. Gauge invariance. Electromagnetic field tensor, field transformations
and invariants. Energy and momentum of the field. Ch. 15-31.
Electrostatics. Coulomb field. Electrostatic potential. Laplace and
Poisson equations. Multipole expansion. Electrostatic energy. Ch. 36, 37,
40-42; Jackson Ch 1-4
Magnetostatics. Magnetic field of a current. Magnetic multipoles. Atom in
a magnetic field, Larmor theorem, Zeeman effect. Ch. 43-45, Jackson Ch 5.
Electromagnetic waves. Wave equation. Plane, cylindrical and spherical
waves. Polarization. Spectral decomposition. Ch 46-52.
Radiation of electromagnetic waves. Retarded potentials. Radiation
field, angular and spectral distribution. Multipole radiation. Radiation in
collisions and synchrotron radiation.
Ch. 38, 62-64, 66-69, 71-75.
Wave propagation. Geometrical and wave optics, uncertainty relation.
Coherence and interference. Diffraction phenomena. Scattering of waves. Ch.
53-56, 58-61, 78-80.
The PHY5346 is one of the central courses on the path toward a graduate degree at the Department of Physics of Florida State University. This course is a part of the degree requirement and should be taken by most of the students. However, some exception can be made for students that have taken a similar advanced course in the past and show evident proficiency in the subject. Below are the rules for the wavier request.
1.) A student can request a wavier only after taking a free try of the qualifying exam.
2.) A student has to show that he/she took an equivalent course earlier. I judge this by the textbook used.
3.) As a part of the request student must allow me to evaluate his/her performance on the E&M part of the qualifying exam.
4.) Based on the above result that show UNDERGRADUATE knowledge I may ask for an additional written
examination at the GRADUATE level of my regular final exam.Students with disabilities needing academic accommodations should register with, and provide documentation to, the Student Disability Resource Center (SDRC) and bring a letter from SDRC to the instructor indicating your needed academic accommodations. Please do this during the first week of class.
Students are expected to uphold the Academic Honor Code published in the Florida State University Bulletin and the Student Handbook.