Instructor: Prof. Andrew Cumming, ERP 310, email: [email protected]
Office hours: please email me for an appointment, or drop by my office anytime.
Time: MW 11.35AM-12.55PM, ENGMC 12.
TAs: Tal Sheaffer (office: 308; office hours Tuesday 2pm) and Yang Lan (office 406; office hours Monday 2pm)
Tutorials: weekly on Monday at 1pm in the piano room, ERP 211.
This course follows on from PHYS 350 Electromagnetism, and considers the implications and applications of Maxwell's equations: wave propagation, the link to special relativity, and radiation by accelerated charges. By the end of the course, you will be able to calculate the properties of electromagnetic waves in a range of materials, calculate the radiation from arrangements of accelerating charges, and have a greater appreciation of the theory of electromagnetism and its relation to special relativity.
The course is divided into four parts:
Fundamentals. Maxwell's equations in vacuum and matter. Electromagnetic waves and the speed of light. Energy and momentum of electromagnetic fields. Scalar and vector potentials. Why accelerating charges radiate and Larmor's formula.
Electromagnetic waves in materials. Electromagnetic waves in plasmas and conductors. Dispersion. Waves in a dielectric. The Lorentz dielectric. Reflection and transmission at an interface. Optics. Scattering.
Time-dependent fields and electromagnetic radiation. Retarded potentials. Applications of Larmor's formula. The Hertzian dipole and properties of antennas. Multipole radiation.
Electromagnetism and relativity. Magnetism from relativity. Lorentz transforms of fields. Energy-momentum tensor. Maxwell's equations in covariant form. Fields of a moving charge. Radiation from relativistic particles.
Where appropriate, we will discuss numerical methods as we go through. There will also be a term paper which will provide an opportunity to research a topic in electromagnetism, applying material learned in the course, in greater depth than we have time for in the lectures.
I will make my lecture notes available on myCourses.
A textbook is not required, but you may find it useful to see a different presentation of the material. The classic text is Introduction to Electrodynamics by David J. Griffiths (Prentice Hall, 4th Edition, 2012), which you probably already have from PHYS 350. We will cover the material in Chapter 8 onwards. A book I like is Electromagnetism by Gerald Pollack and Daniel Stump (Addison Wesley, 1st Edition, 2001) which has a more formal style than Griffiths, but is harder to get a hold of and more expensive. We will cover the material in Chapters 11 to 15.
Please note, however, there are many other books on electromagnetic waves that you can look at and I encourage you to read widely and deeply on this topic. As for any topic in physics, I recommend dipping into the Feynman lectures, particularly for their physical insight. Otherwise browse the electromagnetism shelf in the library to look for different viewpoints and interesting applications and problems.
Homeworks (20%), term paper (20%), midterm (20%), and a final exam (40%). When calculating the final grade, one homework set and/or one midterm grade will be dropped if it helps your final grade.
More information on the term paper (including assessment criteria)
The first lecture is on Wednesday September 5th.
The topic of your term paper should be submitted on myCourses by October 17th.
The midterm will be held during class on November 5th.
The term paper will be due on Tuesday Dec 4th (last day of lectures).
McGill University values academic integrity. Therefore all students must understand the meaning and consequences of cheating, plagiarism and other academic offences under the Code of Student Conduct and Disciplinary Procedures (more information). In accord with McGill University's Charter of Students' Rights, students in this course have the right to submit in English or in French any written work that is to be graded. In the event of extraordinary circumstances beyond the University's control, the content and/or evaluation scheme in this course is subject to change. Additional policies governing academic issues which affect students can be found in the McGill Charter of Students' Rights.