640-245 Electromagnetism & Relativity

Note

Credit Points

HECS Band

Coordinator

Prerequisites

Physics 640-121 plus 640-122 or 640-141 plus 640-142; one of Mathematics 620-113, 620-123 or 620-143, or equivalent.

Pre/corequisites

Mathematics 620-231 or 620-233, or equivalent

Semester

Contact

Subject Description

This subject introduces two fundamental areas of physics:

• An introduction to Maxwell's equations in differential form. This subject will show how Maxwell's equations provide a unified understanding of electrical, magnetic and optical phenomena; how they can be applied to simple problems, including those involving dielectric and magnetic media; and how they play a key role in a wide range of processes in science and engineering. Content includes scalar and vector potentials; dielectric and magnetic materials: field vectors P, D, M, H; boundary conditions for field vectors; magnetic circuits; energy density of electric and magnetic fields; simple boundary value problems; and electromagnetic waves: in vacuum and simple dielectrics, wave equations, Poynting's vector.

• Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity. The difficulties faced by physics at the end of the 19th century and the revolution that was necessary in concepts of motion, space, time and mass will be explained. Applications to phenomena involving high speed particles will be addressed. Topics include inertial frames; Einstein's postulates; Lorentz transformations; modifications to kinematics and Newtonian mechanics; causality and the speed of light as the limiting speed; four-vector formulation; spacetime interval; high energy collisions; equivalence of mass and energy; experimental tests; and physical introduction to the equivalence principle and general relativity.

Students will develop skills in the analytic and computational techniques required to solve problems in electromagnetism and special relativity.

Assessment

A 3-hour end-of-semester written examination plus tests, projects and/or assignments, set during the semester, which may account for up to 20% of the final marks.

Prescribed Texts

• R H Good, Classical Electromagnetism. Saunders.
• E F Taylor and J A Wheeler, Spacetime Physics. 2nd ed., Freeman.