Physics 511 Spring 2025

Department of Physics and Astronomy

University of New Mexico

 
 

Electrodynamics

 
 
Instructor: Prof. Ivan Deutsch
Lectures: Tues&Thurs. 9:30-10:45, PAIS 1140
Problem Session: Fri. 9:00-9:50, PAIS 1140
Office Hours: Wed. 1:00-2:00, PAIS 2500
 
TA: Alejandro Garcia, agarcia2001@unm.edu
Office Hours: Wed. 9:00-9:50, PAIS 1140


 

 

On this Page:

 

General Information

Recommended Text:

Other Texts:

 

Grading:

Problem sets will be distributed in class, about once a week. Assignments will be due on Thursday in the grader's mailbox by 5:00 PM.

 

Tentative Syllabus

 

I Review Electro- and Magneto- quasistatics (5 weeks)

A. Mathematical Review - Vector calculus and tensors

B. Electrostatics - Gauss' Law, Poisson's and Laplace's equation, multipoles

C. Magnetostatics - Ampère, Biot-Savart, vector potential, multipoles

D. Faraday's Law and Maxwell's Equations

E. Poynting's Theorem, Maxwell Stress-Tensor, Conservation Laws

F. Macroscopic Maxwell Equations

 

II Electromagnetic Waves (4 weeks)

A. The wave equation

B. Plane wave propagation in vacuum, dielectrics, conductors

C. Dispersion and pulse propagation

D. Kramers-Kronig relations

E. Metamaterails, neagitve index of refraction, etc.

 

III Radiation by Nonrelativistic Charges (4 weeks)

A. The potential formulation of Maxwell's equations; Gauge transformations

B. Green's functions and retarded-time potentials

C. Multipole expansions

D. Electric dipole, quadrapole, and magnetic dipole radiation

E. Scattering (scalar theory)

 

IV Special Relativity (2 weeks)

A. Review: Lorentz transformations, space-time diagrams, relativistic kinematics

B. Transformation of the fields - Magnetism as a relativistic phenomenon

C. Tensors in Minkowski space

D. Covariant formulation of Maxwell's equations

 

Lecture Schedule

 
Date
Topic
Resources

Jan. 21

Overview: Maxwell Eq., Units

Download 1

Podcast 1

Jackson: Appendix

 Jan. 23

Vectors/Tensors, Vector fields

Download 2

Podcast 2

 Jan. 28

Electrostatics: Coulomb's Law, Delta functions, Field equations, Gauss' Law 

 Download 3

Podcast 3

Jackson 1.1-1.4

 Jan. 30

Electrostatic potential, Poisson's Eq., Laplace's Eq., Green's functions

Download 4

Podcast 4

Jackson 1.5-1.10

 Feb. 4

Conductors, Capacitors, Work and Energy in the Electrostatic Field
Podcast 5

Feb. 6

Continuation

Podcast 6

 Feb. 11

 Mutipole moments, General Cartesian expansion 

Download 5

Podcast 7

 Feb. 13
 Spherical multipoles - Spherical harmonics

Download 6

Podcast 8

Jackson 4.1-4.2

 Feb. 18

Intro to Magnetostatics: Field Eqs., Ampere's Law

Download 7

Podcast 9

Jackson 5.1-5.3

 Feb. 20

Ampere's Law, Formal Solutions, Magnetic Multipole expansion

 Download 8

Podcast 10

Jackson 5.4-5.7

 Feb. 25

 Ohm's Law, EMF

 Download 9

Podcast 11

Jackson 5.15-5.17

 Feb. 27

 Faraday's Law, Energy in Field

 Continuation

Podcast 12

Mar. 4

Displacement Current, Maxwell's Equations Quasi-Statics, Poynting's Theorem

Download 10

Podcast 13

Jackson 6.1,6.7

 Mar. 6

 More conservation laws - Maxwell Stress-Tensor

Momentum and Angular Momentum of Field

 Download 11

Podcast 14

 Mar. 11

Wave equation, Plane waves I

 Download 12

Podcast 15

Jackson 7.1

 Mar. 13

Continuation

Podcast 16

Jackson 7.2

 Mar.17-21

 SPRING BREAK

 

 Mar. 25

Wave equation, Plane waves II

Fourier decomposition

Download 13 

Podcast 17

 Mar. 27

  Macroscopic Maxwell Equations

 Download 14

Podcast 18

Jackson 6.6

Apr. 1

Wave propagation in linear media

 Download 15

Podcast 19

Jackson 7.1


Apr. 3

Lorentz and models -- dispersion

Download 16

Podcast 20

Jackson 7.5, 7.8, 7.9

Apr. 8

Kamers-Kronig relations

Download 17

Podcast 21

Jackson 7.10

  Apr. 10

Potential Formulation, Gauge Transformations

Green's Function for Wave Equation

Download 18

Podcast 22

Jackson 6.2-6.4 

 Apr. 15

Multipole Radiation (I)

Electric dipole radiation

Download 19a

Podcast 23

Jackson 9.1-9.2

 Apr. 17

Multipole radiation continued 

Podcast 24
Apr. 22

Multipole Radiation (II)

Higher multipoles: magnetic dipole, electric quadrupole

Download 19b

 Podcast 25

Jackson 9.3
Apr. 24

Intro. to Scattering - Rayleigh scattering

Download 20

Podcast 26

Jackson 10.1-10.2

 Apr. 29

Scattering continued - , Structure Factor, Born Approx

Download 21

Podcast 27

May 1

Relativity Review, Four vectors,

Relativistic mechanics

 Download 22

Podcast 28

Jackson 11.1-11.5

 May 6

Magnetism and relativity. Transformation of fields  

 Download 23

 Download 24

Podcast 29

May 8

The Geometry of Minkowski Space

 Download 25

Podcast 30

Jackson 11.6-11.7

 May 9

The Covariant Formulation of Electromagentism

 Download 26

Podcast 31

Jackson 11.9-11.10

 

Problem Sets

Problem Set #1

Due Jan. 30

  • Questions
  • Solutions

 Problem Set #6

Due

  • Questions
  • Solutions

 Problem Set #2

Due 

  • Questions
  • Solutions

 Problem Set #7

Due

  • Questions
  • Solutions

Problem Set #3

Due

  • Questions
  • Solutions

Problem Set #8

Due

  • Questions
  • Solutions

 

Problem Set #4

Due

  • Questions
  • Solutions

Problem Set #9

Due

  • Questions
  • Solutions

 Problem Set #5

Due

  • Questions
  • Solutions

 Problem Set #10

Due

  • Questions
  • Solutions