Readings

Main Text

Griffiths, David J. Introduction to Electrodynamics. 3rd ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1998. ISBN: 9780138053260.

Reference Texts

Purcell, Edward M. "Electricity and Magnetism." In Berkeley Physics Course. 2nd ed. Vol. 2. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 1984. ISBN: 9780070049086.

Feynman, Richard P., Robert B. Leighton, and Matthew Sands. The Feynman Lectures on Physics. 2nd ed. Vol. 2. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, 2005. ISBN: 9780805390452.

All of the readings are from Griffiths, unless otherwise noted.

WEEK # SES # TOPICS READINGS

Week 1

Introduction, electric field

 1 Intro: Electrostatics Sections 2.1.1-2.1.4.
2 Electrostatics problem solving  

Week 2

Mathematical background

 3 Vector review

Review: Vectors

Sections 1.1.1-1.1.4.

Differential calculus: Div, grad, curl

Sections 1.2.1-1.2.7.
4 Divergence, gradient, curl Sections 1.3.1-1.3.3.
5 Integral calculus, Dirac delta function Section 1.3.4.
6 Dirac delta function, curvilinear coordinates Section 1.5.

Week 3

Gauss's law and electric potential

 7 More curvilinear coordinates: Div and grad in spherical coordinates; Gauss's law Section 1.41.
8 Applications of Gauss's law: Field lines, point charge, Gaussian surfaces

Divergence of electrostatic fields

Sections 2.2.1-2.2.2.

Application of Gauss's law

Section 2.2.3.
9 Applications of Gauss's law: Line charge, plane charge

Application of Gauss's law

Section 2.2.3.

The curl of electric field

Section 2.2.4.
10 Electric potential; Poisson's equation; Laplace's equation Sections 2.3.1-2.3.5.

Week 4

Work and energy in electrostatics; conductors and capacitors

 11 Electrostatic boundary conditions; conductors

Electrostatic boundary conditions

Section 2.3.5.

Conductors

Section 2.5.
12 Capacitors, dielectrics, work Sections 2.4.1-2.4.4.
13 Capacitors, work, first and second uniqueness theorems Sections 2.5.1-2.5.4.

Week 5

The method of images and multipole expansion

 14 Method of images

Laplace's equation

Sections 3.1.3-3.1.6.

The method of images

Sections 3.2.1-3.2.4.
15 Parallel plate capacitor, electric dipole

Multipole expansion

Sections 3.4.1-3.4.2.

Electric dipole

Sections 3.4.3-3.4.4.
16 Separation of variables Section 3.3.

Week 6

Exam 1

 17 Review for exam 1  
18 Exam 1  

Week 7

Magnetostatics and special relativity

 19 Dielectrics Sections 4.1, 4.2, and 4.3.
20 Magnetostatics, electric currents

Dielectrics

Section 4.4.

Electricity and magnetism

Purcell. Chapter 4.
21 Special relativity

Electricity and magnetism

Purcell. Chapter 4.
22 Special relativity (cont.)

Sections 12.1.1-12.1.4.

Purcell. Chapter 5.

Week 8

Magnetic fields

 23 Electric fields and force

Sections 12.1.1-12.1.4.

Purcell. Chapter 5.
24 Magnetic fields; Lorenz force law Sections 5.1.1-5.1.3.
25 Cycloidal motion; Biot-Savart law Sections 5.1.1-5.1.3.
26 Biot-Savart law (cont.); Ampere's law

Section 12.3.1.

Purcell. Chapter 5.

Week 9

Magnetic fields; Maxwell's laws; magnetic properties of materials

 27 Maxwell's equations Sections 5.3.1-5.3.4.
28 Induction

Problem solving Ampere's law

Sections 5.3.1-5.3.4.

Griffiths vector potential

Section 5.4.1.
29 Magnetic boundary conditions; magnetic dipole Section 5.2.
30 Magnetization; magnetic properties of materials

Magnetic boundary conditions

Section 5.4.2.

Multipole expansion of vector potential, magnetic moments

Section 5.4.3.

Week 10

Exam 2; magnetized materials

 31 Review for exam 2  
32 Exam 2  
33 Ampere's law in magnetized materials

Magnetization

Sections 6.1-6.4.

Magnetic properties of materials and quantum mechanics

Feynman. Chapters 34-37.
34 Bound current; ferromagnetism Sections 7.1.1-7.1.3.

Week 11

Circuits

 35 Circuits

Faraday's law of induction

Section 7.2.1.

The induced electric field

Section 7.2.2.
36 Circuits; undriven RC circuits; Thevenin's theorem Section 7.2.3.
37 Thevenin's theorem (cont.); Ohm's law; Faraday's law; Lenz's law Section 7.2.4.
38 Alternating current circuits Section 7.2.4.

Week 12

Circuits (cont.)

 39 Inductance

Alternating current circuits

Purcell. Chapter 8.
40 Undriven RLC circuits

Alternating current circuits

Purcell. Chapter 8.
41 Driven RLC circuits; Ladder impedance Purcell. Chapter 8.

Week 13

Maxwell; momentum

 42 Maxwell's equations

Alternating current circuits

Purcell. Chapter 8.

Maxwell's equations

Section 7.3.
43 Poynting vector; Maxwell stress tensor Section 7.3.
44 Conservation of momentum; Minkowski force

Sections 8.1.1-8.1.2.

Momentum

Section 8.2.
45 Review for exam 3  

Week 14

Electromagnetic waves

 46 Exam 3  
47 Electromagnetic waves Sections 9.1.1.1-9.1.2.
48 Electromagnetic waves (cont.) Sections 9.1.1.1-9.1.3.
49 Topics for next week; relativity Sections 12.1-12.3.

Week 15

Advanced topics in relativity; quantum

 50 Faraday tensor; Maxwell; General relativity Sections 12.1-12.3.
51 Quantum  
52 Schrodinger equation