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DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2010/2011
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DRPS : Course Catalogue : School of Physics and Astronomy : Undergraduate (School of Physics and Astronomy)

Undergraduate Course: Classical Electrodynamics (PHYS11045)

Course Outline
School School of Physics and Astronomy College College of Science and Engineering
Course type Standard Availability Available to all students
Credit level (Normal year taken) SCQF Level 11 (Year 4 Undergraduate) Credits 10
Home subject area Undergraduate (School of Physics and Astronomy) Other subject area None
Course website None Taught in Gaelic? No
Course description A course on the Maxwell equations, their Lorentz invariance, covariant formulation, and gauge invariance. Applications included classical radiation from time dependent charges and currents, and in particular accelerating charges.
Entry Requirements
Pre-requisites It is RECOMMENDED that students have passed Tensors and Fields (PHYS10016)
Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Other requirements At least 80 credit points accrued in courses of SCQF Level 9 or 10 drawn from Schedule Q.
Additional Costs None
Information for Visiting Students
Pre-requisites None
Displayed in Visiting Students Prospectus? Yes
Course Delivery Information
Delivery period: 2010/11 Semester 2, Available to all students (SV1) WebCT enabled:  No Quota:  None
Location Activity Description Weeks Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday
King's BuildingsLecture1-11 11:10 - 12:00
King's BuildingsLecture1-11 11:10 - 12:00
King's BuildingsTutorial1-11 15:00 - 17:00
First Class Week 1, Monday, 11:10 - 12:00, Zone: King's Buildings. JCMB
Additional information Workshop/tutorial sessions, as arranged.
Exam Information
Exam Diet Paper Name Hours:Minutes Stationery Requirements Comments
Main Exam Diet S2 (April/May)2:0020 sides
Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes
On completion of the course the student should be able to:

1. understand origin of Maxwell's equations in magnetic and dielectric media

2. write down Maxwell's equations in linear, isotropic, homogeneous media

3. derive continuity conditions on electromagnetic fields at boundaries

4. derive electromagnetic wave solutions and propagation in dielectric and other media

5. understand transport of energy and Poynting vector

6. understand transport of momentum, Maxwell stress tensor and radiation pressure

7. show laws of geometric optics originate with Maxwell's equations at dielectric boundaries

8. calculate reflection and transmission coefficients for waves at dielectric boundaries

9. obtain scalar and vector potential equations in presence of sources

10. understand gauge invariance of Maxwell's equations, decoupling of scalar and vector potential equations in Lorentz gauge and corresponding solutions

11. solve for retarded potentials and electric and magnetic fields for simple problems involving time-dependent charge-current distributions

12. understand the term radiation zone and derive angular distribution of and power emitted by a dipole

13. write down electromagnetic field tensor in covariant notation

14. derive fully covariant forms of Maxwell equations, Lorentz gauge condition and continuity equation

15. obtain Lorentz transformations for electric and magnetic fields and apply to simple cases

16. show the stress-energy-momentum tensor components are energy density, Poynting vector and Maxwell stress tensor

17. derive Lienard-Wiechert potentials for a moving point charge

18. derive corresponding electric and magnetic fields

19. show that acceleration of the charge gives electromagnetic radiation

20. apply to cases of charges: slowly accelerating at low velocities; undergoing acceleration collinear with velocity, in a circular orbit (synchrotron radiation).
Assessment Information
Degree Examination, 100%
Special Arrangements
None
Additional Information
Academic description Not entered
Syllabus Not entered
Transferable skills Not entered
Reading list Not entered
Study Abroad Not entered
Study Pattern Not entered
Keywords CED
Contacts
Course organiser Prof R Ball
Tel: (0131 6)50 5248
Email: R.D.Ball@ed.ac.uk
Course secretary Miss Paula Wilkie
Tel: (0131) 668 8403
Email: paw@roe.ac.uk
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copyright 2011 The University of Edinburgh - 31 January 2011 8:14 am