Physics 110B

Electricity, Magnetism, and Optics

Spring 2000

Tuesday, Thursday, 12:00—1:45 pm, Kerr Hall, room 283.

Instructor: Robert Johnson

Office: Nat. Sci. II, Rm 323; Phone 459-2125; Fax 459-5777

E-mail: johnson@scipp.ucsc.edu

Office hours: Tuesday/Thursday 2:30—4:00. Relatively quick questions are welcome any time, in person, by phone, or by email. Appointments are possible for special circumstances.

Course web page: http://scipp.ucsc.edu/~johnson/phy110b

TA: Paul Graham.

Discussion Section: Tuesdays, 6:30—8:00 pm, Kerr 289

Textbook: Introduction to Electrodynamics, D. Griffiths, 3rd Edition.

Exams: Midterm: Thursday, April 27, in class.

Final: Thursday, June 8, 4:00—7:00 pm.

Week

Dates

Topics

Chapter

Homework

due

1

Mar 28

Mar 30

Conservation of charge, energy and momentum.

Maxwell's stress tensor.

8

 

2

April 4

April 6

Electromagnetic waves in vacuum and in matter.

Reflection and transmission.

9.1–9.3

#1

3

April 11

April 13

Absorption and Dispersion.

Propagation in waveguides.

9.4–9.5

#2

4

April 18

April 20

Potentials and fields for continuous charge distributions. Gauge transformations.

10.1–10.2

#3

5

April 25

April 27

Potentials and fields for point charges.

Midterm exam

10.3

 

6

May 2

May 4

Fields from a moving point charge.

Electric and magnetic dipole radiation.

10.3

11.1

#4

7

May 9

May 11

Radiation from point charges.

11.2

#5

8

May 16

May 18

Radiation reaction.

Special Theory of Relativity.

11.2

12.1

#6

9

May 23

May 25

4-vectors and space-time diagrams.

Relativistic mechanics.

12.1

12.2

#7

10

May 30

June 1

Relativistic electrodynamics.

12.3

 

11

June 6

June 8

Final Exam

 

#8

Note: as I have never before taught this course, the syllabus should be considered to be tentative.