Physics 436 Syllabus

Syllabus
Physics 436
Fall 2007

Here are the weekly topics, reading, and homework assignments.

Please read the book before class.
I have broken the reading into bite sized pieces (for each lecture), so you can easily keep up.
Homework solutions will be posted after the HW due date. (password protected)
Discussion solutions will be posted Tuesday.
Click on the date (in the week column) to see scanned lecture notes (jpeg images).

Week:     Topic:     Reading:     Homework:     Discussion:

August 22
24     Introduction. Conservation laws.
Poynting vector, stress tensor.     2.4.3-4, 7.2.4, 5.1.3, 8.1
8.2.1-2     Due Aug. 24
Solution     -- None --

August 27
29
31 Conservation of momentum.
Angular momentum. Subtleties.
The Wave equation. Superposition. 8.2.3
8.2.4
9.1.1-2 Due Aug. 31
Solution In class
Solution

September 3
5
7 Labor Day
Boundary conditions.
Polarization. EM waves in vacuum. x
9.1.3-4
9.2 Due Sep. 7
Solution -- None --

September 10
12
14 E and p. Materials & interfaces.
Oblique incidence.
Brewster's angle. 9.2.2, 9.3.1-2
9.3.3
Due Sep. 14
Solution In class
Solution

September 17
19
21 Waves in conductors. Skin depth.
Conducting surfaces.
Dispersion (video) 9.4.1
9.4.2
9.4.3 Due Sep. 21
Solution In class
Solution

September 24
26
28 Wave guides.
TE modes
In-class exam (Solution) 9.5.1
9.5.2
Practice (not HW)
Solution In class
Solution

October 1
3
5 Coaxial cables. Impedance.
Dielectric wave guides. Resonant cavities.
Vector potential. 9.5.3
---
10.1.1 Due Oct. 5
Solution In class
Solution

October 8
10
12 Gauge invariance.
Retarded potentials.
Point charges. Liénard-Wiechert potentials. 10.1.2-3
10.2.1
10.3.1 Due Oct. 12
Solution In class
Solution

October 15
17
19 Fields produced by a moving point charge
Begin radiation
Electric dipole radiation 10.3.2
11.1.1
11.1.2 Due Oct. 19
Solution In class
Solution

October 22
24
26 Magnetic dipole radiation
Arbitrary sources
Radiation from a point charge 11.1.3
11.1.4
11.2 Due Oct. 26
Solution In class
Solution

October 29
31
November 2 Begin special relativity (1905 paper)
In-class exam (Solution)
Relativity is geometry 12.1.1-2
---
12.1.4 --None-- In class
Solution

November 5
7
9 4-D rotations. Time dilation & Length contraction.
Writing manifestly covariant expressions.
Kinematics and conservation laws. 12.1.3
12.2.1-2
12.2.3 Due Nov. 9
Solution In class
Solution

November 12
14
16 Dynamics
Moving emitters (Doppler effect).
Begin electrodynamics. 12.2.4
---
12.3.1 Due Nov. 16
Solution In class
Solution

November 19
21
23
-- Thanksgiving --
Eat, drink, and be merry !!!

November 26
28
30 How E & B transform. The field tensor
Electrodynamics with tensors.
Field invariants. 12.3.2-3
12.3.4
--- Due Nov. 30
Solution In class
Solution

December 3
5
7 The 4-vector potential.
Scattering
   " ---
---
--- Due Dec. 7
Solution In class
Solution

December 15 Final exam (Solution) Saturday, December 15, 1:30-4:30 PM

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