PH 733 - ELECTROMAGNETIC THEORY II

This course, to be offered in the Fall Term 2000, is addressed to graduate and advanced undergraduate students. The purpose of the course is to provide the background necessary to deal with concepts and problems of Relativity Theory and Radiation Theory.

The subjects will include:

I. REVIEW OF ELECTROMAGNETIC THEORY I

We shall review the subjects that pertain to EMI: Coulomb’s law (electrostatics), stationary currents (magnetostatics), induction and quasi-stationary phenomena, energy and momentum conservation laws, reflection and refraction of plane waves, etc.

II. THEORY OF RELATIVITY

We introduce the Principles of Relativity and the Lorentz transformation. We express the potential equations in Lorentz-invariant form and we discuss plane waves and the twin paradox.

We treat the Lorentz transformation of the fields, the Minkowsky force, Gauss's theorem in four dimensions and the electromagnetic energy-momentum tensor. We also deal with the usage of Green's function for the solution of the potential equations.

III. RADIATION FROM A MOVING CHARGE

We treat the Liénard-Wiechert potentials and the radiation of a moving point charge, small periodic oscillations and synchrotron radiation.

IV. RADIATION DAMPING AND ELECTROMAGNETIC MASS

We introduce the related concepts of radiation damping and self-force and apply these concepts to the problems of energy loss by radiation in periodic motion of charges and to the scattering of radiation.

V. RADIATION FROM CHARGE AND CURRENT DISTRIBUTIONS

We treat the electric and magnetic radiating multipoles and the radiation patterns that they produce.

VI. ELECTROMAGNETIC PROPERTIES OF MATTER

We deal with the interaction of radiation with matter. We treat dispersion, absorption, the scattering theory of the index of refraction, relaxation phenomena, and the Kramers-Kronig relations.

Prof. Baldassare Di Bartolo

Department of Physics, Office: Higgins Hall - Room T560 F

Boston College -Chestnut Hill, MA 02467

Tel. Office: (617) 552-3601; home: (781) 483-3993; e-mail address: dibartob@bc.edu