Syllabus - Introduction to Electromagnetic Theory

 

9:00 a.m. - 9:50 a.m.  --  Monday, Wednesday, Friday

Oceanography and Physics Building, Room 202

 

Instructor:                Dr. Sebastian Kuhn

NaPPRF (1021  47th St.) room 105 and OCNPS 223
Phone 683 - 5804  (639-6640 cell); FAX 683-5809
Email: "skuhn@odu.edu"

                               WWW: http://www.physics.odu.edu/~kuhn/
Office hours: Mondays 10 - 11 a.m. OCNPS 142 (Learning Center) and by appointment (ask me in class or email me)

 

 

Required Textbook:   D.J. Griffiths, Introduction to Electrodynamics,3rd edition, Prentice-Hall 1999 (earlier versions contain misprints!)

Optional Textbooks:   R. Feynman, The Feynman Lectures on Physics - Volume (I+) II (The Electromagnetic Field), Addison Wesley
J.D. Jackson, Classical Electrodynamics, John Wiley & Sons
Landau & Lifshitz - Vol. 2 (The Classical Theory of Fields); Vol. 8 (Electrodynamics of con­tinuous me­dia); Pergamon Press

 

 

Grading Scheme:       Approximately 40% based on homework problem sets, 15% on each of two midterm tests, and 30% on the final exam. All exams are in-class, closed book/notes; but I will provide a summary sheet of equations and you may use calculators (don't forget to bring them!)

INTRODUCTION

 

This is a one-semester course on Theoretical Electromagnetism, on an in­tro­ductory level. We will concentrate on the static aspect of Max­well's equa­tions by studying electric and magnetic fields and potentials in the presence of stationary or slowly varying charge and current distributions. We will conclude by deriving the full time depen­dent Max­well equations.

The topics of electromagnetic waves and ra­dia­tion processes will be left for the higher level course (453/553).

 

After a brief introduction, we will study in great detail the basic equa­tions of elec­tro­stat­ics in free space and in matter and demonstrate several meth­ods to solve them for specific situations. The necessary mathematical tools will be (re-)introduced as we go along. We will then turn to mag­ne­to­­stat­ics, studying forces on moving charges and magnetic field equa­tions in free space and in linear and nonlinear media. Since many of the mathe­matical methods used in magnetostatics are very similar to the ones used in electro­sta­tics, we will place more emphasis on developing them in the con­text of elec­trostatics, when they occur first. This will allow us to deal with the ana­log problems in magnetostatics in somewhat shorter time. Next, we will look at current loops and the Electromotive Force. We will study time-de­pendent fields and derive the missing parts of Maxwell's equations.

 

We will follow the content as well as the no­tation of the required textbook (Introduction to Electrodynamics  by David J. Griffiths) fairly closely, but not necessarily in exactly the same order. This does not exclude, however, that we will derive certain results con­tained in this book using a somewhat different ap­proach. Some additional material not found in Griffiths will be treated as well; I will mostly follow Jackson's book in these cases. Everyone is strongly encouraged to make use of this and the other optional textbooks listed on the first page. I have or­dered them with increasing difficulty.

 

Finally, everybody is strongly urged to visit the course website often for up-to-date information.

 

Policy on Cooperation

 

This addendum to the Syllabus is to state my policy on al­lowed vs. unethical cooperation in the preparation of homework prob­lems:

 

1)    I consider it advantageous if students discuss both material of the lec­tures and strategies to solve specific homework problems with each other. In fact, I encourage students to pair up with each other for regular discussions and to study together.

2)    I consider it unethical and a vio­lation of the honor code to copy the solution of a homework problem ver­batim from another student's solution or from a book (including study guides etc.) and the internet.

 

Each student must turn in their own (hand- or computer- written) version of each homework assignment. You may neither copy from another student's final (or close to final) solution nor let another student peruse or copy yours. For your discussions with other students, you may use only clearly non-permanent writing (black/whiteboards or scrap paper). You must properly cite all sources you use (including our text book and my formula sheet), except informal discussions. You have to attempt to solve each problem yourself and make sure that you thoroughly understand the solution you turn in - I will test your understanding to prove or disprove any claims of unethical copying. If you find the solution for a given homework problem in a freely available book, you need to cite this as a source. Again it is un­ethical to simply copy verbatim from a book - you have to formulate the solution in your own words and in accordance with the nomenclature used in class.

 

Also, of course no cooperation is allowed on any of the exams. You may not bring any material or books to the exams other than paper, pen/pencil, rulers, your calculator and the formula sheet I am going to hand out in class.

In this context, I want to remind everyone of the University policy: Any official sanction for cheating, including the assignment of a grade of F for a quiz or for a course as a penalty for cheating, will appear on the student's permanent academic transcript.

 

If you are at all unclear about what's allowed and what's not, ask me! 

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