The beautiful theory of electricity and magnetism is, with classical mechanics, the heart of classical physics. What is often not appreciated at the undergraduate level is that electricity and magnetism are related in a way that reveals the structure of space-time. In this course relativity will be used from the beginning to relate electric and magnetic fields, so that their unity, as components of the electromagnetic field are revealed and used in the study of Maxwell’s Equations.
Recommended course content: Frames of reference and Einsteinian relativity. Charge. Lorentz invariance of charge and its consequences. Electrostatics. Conductors. Electric currents and magnetic fields. Electromagnetic induction. Maxwell’s equations. The potential formulation. Transformation of Maxwell’s equations between inertial frames. The idea of the electromagnetic field tensor. Electric and magnetic fields in various media.
Pre-requisites: Mathematical Physics I (Mathematical and Computational Toolkit).
Taught at the level of: Introduction to Electrodynamics (D J Griffiths), Electricity & Magnetism (E M Purcell).
