PH 444: Electromagnetic Theory (2023) Spring
Prof Anshuman Kumar
Prerequisite
None
Course Content
Poissons and Laplaces Equations,Greens Theorem, Greens Function and boundary value problems with spherical harmonics and Bessel functions, Multipole Expansion up to quadrupole moment,Maxwells Equations (recap), Continuity Equation, Poynting Theorem, Newtons 3rd lawin ED, Maxwells stress tensor, Conservation of linear and angular momentum, Potential formulation of ED, 4D-Poissons equation, Time dependent Greens functionand Jefimenkos equations, Lienard-Wiechert Potential and EM fields, Electric Dipoleradiation, Larmors formula, Bremsstrahlung, Synchrotron, Cerenkov radiation.
Books
1.011J. D. Jackson, Classical Electrodynamics, John Wiley and Sons 19982.011Lecture notes, book by A. Zangwill (Modern Electrodynamics) 3.011D. J. Griffiths (Introduction to Electrodynamics)References for specific topics:1.011Classical Electrodynamics by Julian Schwinger, L. L. De Raad Jr., K. A. Milton, and W. Tsai (Greens function, Gauge Transformations, Retarded Greens function)
Review by Anonymous
Lectures
Course is mathematically heavy with lots of lengthy derivations which you are supposed to remember for the exams
Assignments, Exams and Grading
2 Quiz 15% Midsem 20% Quiz 15% Endsem 30% Project 20%
Tips
Work out the derivation before the exams (as is the case with Photonics) We mostly used Jackson (and for some parts Griffiths was used)
Review by Anonymous
Lectures
Lectures were quite interactive - he used chalk and board for the most part, and sometimes additional slides for some concepts. Almost all the derivations were covered in class in detail. Attendance was not compulsory.
Assignments, Exams and Grading
2 quizzes (30%) Midsem (20%) Endsem (35%) Group project (20%) Questions in most exams were slight modifications of tutorial problems - there were two or three challenging problems in the entire duration of the course. Each exam was worth 100 points which was scaled down appropriately. Endsem was quite lengthy but the grading was good (17 AAs in a class of ~65).
Tips
The course is quite interesting in terms of the content covered and the instructor was also understanding. The project was, however, worth a lot less than the effort it required. Be prepared for some tensor algebra, and quite a lot of algebra in general.