Entry requirements

120 credits with Mechanics III. Electromagnetic Field Theory. Proficiency in English equivalent to the Swedish upper secondary course English 6.

Learning outcomes

On completion of the course, the student shall be able to:

• interpret the deeper meaning of the Maxwell field equations and account for their symmetry and transformation properties, domain of validity, and limitations,
• formulate and solve electromagnetic problems with the help of electrodynamic potentials, and make a detailed account for gauge transformations and their use,
• master the techniques to determine the electromagnetic fields from general charge and current distributions,
• calculate the electromagnetic radiation from radiating systems,
• derive the electromagnetic radiation from localised charges which move arbitrarily in time and space, taking into account retardation effects, accounting for the underlying approximations and assumptions,
• formulate and solve electrodynamic problems in relativistically covariant form in four-dimensional space-time.

Content

Maxwell's equations. Energy and momentum formula in Maxwell's theory. Maxwell's stress tensor, radiation pressure. Telegraph equation. EM waves in vacuum and in media. Phase and group velocity, dispersion. The inhomogeneous wave equation. Gauge transformations, gauge invariance. Retarded potentials. Fields from random distributions of currents and charges. Electric and magnetic multipole radiation. Relativistic kinematics. Covariant formulation of electrodynamics. Liénard-Wiechert's potentials. Fields from a charged particle at random motion, cyclotron and synchrotron radiation. Scattering from an individual charged particle. Absorption of radiation in an oscillator. Rayleigh scattering. Relativistic Lagrange and Hamilton formalism for charged particles in a field. Lagrange and Hamilton covariant equations for classical EM fields and interaction with charged particles.

Instruction

Lectures, lessons and demonstration of computer simulations, project.

Assessment

Written examination at the end of the course. Project. Passed assignments may give bonus in the exam.

If there are special reasons for doing so, an examiner may make an exception from the method of assessment indicated and allow a student to be assessed by another method. An example of special reasons might be a certificate regarding special pedagogical support from the disability coordinator of the university.