Year:11/12
Department:Physics
Level:Part II (any yr)
Learning Hours:75
Credit Points:7.5
Weight:0.25
Course Convenor:Dr MH Denton
Status:Live
Syllabus Rules
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Prior to PHYS274, the student must have successfully completed:
The student must take the following modules:
Assessment Rules
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CMod description
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Integral and differential relations in electricity
and magnetism. Analysis of potentials created by charge distributions,
miltipole expansion. Dipole and multipole interaction. Polarisation of a
medium, dielectric constant of polar crystal. Magnetic field and vector
potential. Magnetic dipole and miltipole expansion for the vector potential
and magnetic field. Interaction of magnetic dipoles.
4-dimensional potential and 4-dimensional current in
relativistic theory. Lorentz transformation of space-time, velocities and
fields. Electromagnetic field tensor. Lorentz-invariant Lagrange and Hamilton
functions. Explanation of the Hall effect as a relativistic phenomenon. Gauge
invariance and gauge transformation. Examples of choices of the gauge.
Magnetic field in the Schroedinger equation and gauge transformation.
Relativistic
Lagrange function for coupled particles and fields. The least action principle
and the variational technique, derivation of Maxwell equations from the
Lagrange function. Maxwell equations and their solution for plane waves.
Polarisation of EM radiation. Polarisation tensor, polarised and non-polarised
light, elliptic polarisation. Radiation by moving charges. Magnetic and
electric dipole radiation.
Curriculum Design: Outline Syllabus
back to topGeneral integral relations between current and charge sources and EM potentials in free space.
Energy and momentum of EM fields and the use of the Poynting vector to calculate radiated power.
Conservation laws in differential and integral form.
The notion of retarded potentials.
The EM field of an accelerating point charge.
EM power radiated by an accelerating charge and an oscillating dipole.
Wave solutions of Maxwell's equations in free and bounded space.
Behaviour of EM modes in perfectly conducting rectangular and cylindrical waveguides and cavities.
Difference between TE, TM and TEM propagating modes.
Two-fluid model of plasmas. Dispersion relations for plasma waves.
Educational Aims: Subject Specific: Knowledge, Understanding and Skills
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The LTA strategy is fourfold. Each week the core physics material is developed in the lectures. Students are expected to reinforce and extend the lecture material by private study of the course textbook and other sources. Students understanding is consolidated and assessed via the weekly work sheet, which is completed by students independently, then marked and discussed by the lecturer at the seminar.
Learning Outcomes: Subject Specific: Knowledge, Understanding and Skills
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On completion of the module, students should be able:
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to describe EM fields with simple sources and boundary conditions
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to write down conservation laws in differential and integral form
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to calculate the power radiated from accelerating charges, in particular from an oscillating dipole
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to understand the mode structure of EM fields in simple bounded regions (waveguides and cavities)
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to describe plasmas in terms of charged fluids and to understand basic features of plasma waves
Curriculum Design: Select Bibliography
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D J Griffiths: Introduction to Electrodynamics
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F F Chen: Introduction to Plasma Physics
