PHYS 532 Classical Electrodynamics has as its principal aim providing a working knowledge of the fundamentals of electromagnetism that prepare a graduate student for a career as a physicist, astronomer, chemist or an engineer. It is developed at a more rigorous and complete level than in advanced undergraduate offerings, and is a core course for Rice PhD students whose interests range from physics to chemistry and beyond. The text that will be used is The Classical Theory of Fields, by L. D. Landau and E. M. Lifshitz, the second volume in the esteemed Course of Theoretical Physics. The syllabus covers special relativity, the determination of electromagnetic fields from charges and their motion, the responses of charges to electromagnetic fields, Maxwell's field equations, the character of electromagnetic waves, time-dependent fields of moving charges, and the radiation of electromagnetic waves. There is some overlap with PHYS 541 Radiative Processes (particularly for the radiative elements), which has a more astrophysical emphasis.
Throughout Classical Electrodynamics, a pervasive element will be the theory of special relativity, which underpins the character of the electromagnetic interaction, and defines various elegant elements of the theory that matured over a century ago. The course is an essential preparation for more advanced studies in quantum mechanics, condensed matter physics, particle physics, plasma physics and also Einstein's theory of general relativity. The material presented therefore provides an excellent starting point for those interested in delving deeper into a diverse array of such subfields. Accordingly, sporadically throughout the course, examples from laboratory physics, space physics and astrophysics will appear in the pedagogy to elucidate the content. For a more extensive outline of the material covered, go to the Syllabus page.
PHYS 532 has no formal prerequisites and as such is fairly well self-contained. Yet it is implicitly assumed that students will have a working knowledge of basic electromagnetism at the senior undergraduate level, such as would be covered in the book by Griffiths, Introduction to Electrodynamics. Familiarity with the basics of Lagrangian dynamics and introductory special relativity will be expected. It is also anticipated that students will have a general undergraduate training in mathematics that includes calculus, algebra, vectors, geometry, matrices and differential equations, that which would naturally be acquired in an undergraduate degree majoring in physics or astrophysics. Material on tensors will be briefly summarized. Tensors facilitate formulation of compact, covariant forms for key results. Students will be provided with some summary reading on this aspect, which is covered in PHYS 516 Mathematical Methods.