PHY 6347 — Electromagnetic Theory 2 — Spring 2016

Course: PHY 6347, Electromagnetic Theory 2, Meeting times: MWF, Period 3 (9:35–10:25am) Period 6 (12:50–1:40pm), room 1101
Instructor: J. N. Fry, Office: 2172, Phone: 392-6692, e-mail: fry # phys.ufl.edu, Office Hours: MWF, 10:30–12:00 [schedule]
Grader: Bradley Nartowt, Office: 2155, Phone: 392-0310, Office Hours: W2, F2 e-mail: nartowt # phys.ufl.edu

Course Desc.iption: PHY 6347 is the second semester of the graduate core sequence in Electromagnetism (the first half was PHY 6346), exploring implications of Maxwell's equations in general and in specific situations. The objectives of the course are (i) to study electrodynamics at a theoretically sophisticated level; (ii) to develop mathematical techniques useful for solving problems in E&M as well as other areas of physics; (iii) to develop problem solving skills; (iv) to prepare the student (if necessary) for the preliminary exam. In this semester we will develop applications of general principles introduced in the fall. Topics to be covered include

Grading: Grading will be based 50% on periodic homework sets, and 25% each on a midterm and final exam. The midterm exam will be, tentatively, the the evening of Wednesday March 9, 7:00–9:00pm, in rooms 1216 and 1220. some sample problems (with solutions) [Solution] [Distribution average=76 ± 13]. At some point in the semester, the exchange of class periods with Statistical Mechanics was formalized with the registrar, and the final exam is officially scheduled for Wednesday April 27, 12:30–2:30pm (Exam Group 27C). [Solution] [Distribution average=52 ± 12]. Exams this semester will be open textbook, but not open notes. Students are expected to complete work at the time due, or as soon as possible in case of illness or other accepted, documented circumstance. There will be no last-minute makeups accepted.

The following paragraphs of advice on how to do well in Physics are lifted from one of my colleagues. (He also was once known to have his posted office hours during class time.) This is a graduate course, and you are free to make your own choices, but you should listen to what they say:
  I do not plan to take daily attendance, but it is to your advantage to attend class. You may spend most of your time sleeping, but in between you will have the opportunity to learn what subjects I think are important, and you can then concentrate on these subjects during your reading. If by some unfortunate set of circumstances you do miss class, do not ask me if I said anything important — everything that I say is important. Instead, ask a classmate; she or he is likely to give an honest answer, and you won't offend me. There will be a substantial number of examples discussed in class that are not in the textbook, and examples in class often appear on tests. If you miss class you will not do well in this course.
  Do the assigned homework. This is the drudge part of physics, but it is absolutely necessary. We will learn grand ideas and see their wondrous applications in class. But, your understanding is only superficial unless you can apply these same grand ideas to completely new circumstances. In course work, this is usually done with homework problems. Do not be surprised if the homework is frustrating at times; solving one challenging problem makes the next much easier. And homework problems often appear on tests. Doing all of the homework is the easiest way to improve your grade. Not doing homework is the easiest way to lower your grade.

Required text:

Other books:

[1] Gaussian units; [2] Lorentz units

Kevin Schmidt's Possibly Useful Books for Classical Electromagnetism, with comments

The following quote (attributed to Sidney Coleman) captures a common reaction to Jackson: Scientists tend to overcompress, to make their arguments difficult to follow by leaving out too many steps. They do this because they have a hard time writing and they would like to get it over with as soon as possible.... Six weeks of work are subsumed into the word "obviously."

This and that:
Physical Constants from the Particle Data Group
Math trivia, Akira Hirose Math Notes, DLMF Bessel functions
radio spectrum frequency allocations (2011), fcc table (2015)
superposition, k1 = 1.01 , k2 = 0.99 , ω1 = 1.10, ω2 = 0.90; t = 0, t = 1, t = 2, t = 3.
Wave Packet Animations (from A. John Mallinckrodt)
Model ε(ω), osa fig, DBT, PRB28 1983 [eq.(10), p.12].
Polarizations: ε(α|β), ε(β|α)   Poincaré sphere, Poincaré sphere
George Gabriel Stokes Gifford Lectures
CMB Polarization Primer, WMAP hot-cold, BICEP2, Planck Chromoscope
Pulsar sounds
Brewster's angle
Reawakening the Kelvin Wake, Kelvin or Mach? arXiv
Hannes Alfvén
GR Quadrupole Formula
Rotating systems
Half-wave, full-wave antenna patterns, scaled. integrated power, P(kd), kd = 7
Spherical Bessel functions. scaling l jl(x/l), another scaling [l jl(x/l)]1/l
Vector spherical harmonic angular distributions
Linear Antenna: Multipole Expansion, θ)2 vs. kd narrow patterns
Conducting sphere: long wavelength /dΩ for ka = 1/8, 1/4, 1/2, 1; short wavelength /dΩ for ka = 1/2, 1, 4, 16, 64; scaled short wavelength; log dσ/dΩ vs. θ;
amplitudes |αl, |βl|² for ka=1, ka=64; integrated scattering cross section σ(ka). Short wavelength ka=128
Cross section σ(ka) for dielectric sphere with n = 4/3
Circular Aperture Diffraction, again, and again, Poisson's bright spot, square diffraction
Pinhole Camera
Tübingen at nearly the speed of light, home, Color and brightness
Lorentz generators
Constant Acceleration, spacetime trajectories   2016 Lamborghini Adventador [(88 ft/sec) / (2.7 sec) = 32.6 ft/sec2]
Lorentz boosted electric field γ = 1, 1.020, 1.091, 5/4, 5/3, 10 (v/c = 0, 1/5, 2/5, 3/5, 4/5, 0.99499)
Alfred-Marie Liénard, Emil Johann Wiechert EJW
Field of displaced charge
Kevin Schmidt's 3+1 derivation of the relativistic Larmor formula
Lorentz transformed angular distributions
LHC Synchrotron radiation
PhD Tree [jnf]
Emmy Noether, Invariant Variation Problems, Noether's [1918] Theorem. thank you emmy noether


The host galaxy of a fast radio burst, Nature 530, 452 (2016)
Observation of Gravitational Waves from a Binary Black Hole Merger, PRL 116, 061102 (2016) Listening to GW messages
Moses Brown School is Closed
Happy New Year! and Perihelion
How does a lightsaber work?
Star Trek Continues
Skeetobite Weather, SFWMD computer model plots, Spaghetti Models, HWRF
Lego LHC, Blog interview Mental Floss, LHC Street View
Swiss 200 Franc banknote
Cosmic Variance, @dalcantonJD, @RisaWechsler, girlandkat, tw/@girlandkat, ms/@elizabethtasker, @emsque, @JannaLevin, sean carroll, @seanmcarroll, Leaves on the Line, tw/@defjaf, ms/@jaffe, @Swnk16, @kevaba, Cosmic Yarns, @ktfreese, @WKCosmo, @BadAstronomer, @LordMartinRees, In the Dark, tw/@telescoper, ms/@telescoper, @astroIAP, @hjmccracken, @lbaudis, Quantum Frontiers, @preskill, Lawrence M Krauss, @LKrauss1, @ast309, @FrankWilczek, The Insoluble Pancake, Starts With a Bang!, @StartsWithABang!

Class Diary

Homework: Problem solving is a skill learned only through practice. Take advantage of the homework as an opportunity to learn how to recognize the right approach to a problem before it becomes exam time. While I encourage you to discuss the assignments with each other, what you turn in must represent your own work. As we also do when publishing research articles: if you obtain significant information from a published or human source, cite that source. This will often be as little as "Jackson, eq. (9.98)". If you work together, please identify other members of your working group. This edition of the textbook uses SI (mks) units, at least until the chapters on relativity. Correct solutions to the assigned problems will be in appropriate units. Best answers are reduced to simplest terms; ½ tan−1[2az/(a2z2)] is and is not the same as tan−1(z/a) .

  1. Homework 1, Due Monday January 18. Solution
  2. Homework 2, Due Monday January 25. Solution
  3. Homework 3, Due Monday February 8. Solution.
  4. Homework 4, Due Monday February 22. Solution.
  5. Homework 5, Due Monday March 7. Solution.
  6. Homework 6, Due Monday March 21. Solution.
  7. Homework 7, Due Monday April 11. Solution.
  8. Homework 8, Due Monday April 20. Solution.

    Midterm Solution
    Final Exam Solution

University Policies: Students are expected to know and comply with the University's policies regarding academic honesty and use of copyrighted materials. Cheating, plagiarism, or other violations of the Academic Honesty Guidelines will not be tolerated and will be pursued through the University's adjudication procedures.
  “Students requesting classroom accommodations must first register with the Disabilities Resources Program, located in the Dean of Students Office, P202 Peabody Hall. The Disabilities Resources Program will provide documentation to the student, who must then deliver this documentation to the instructor when requesting accommodations.”