The goal of
this class is to introduce the subject of classical
electromagnetism at the advanced undergraduate level.
Classical electromagnetism (EM) is fundamentally a
local theory of vector fields and its proper treatment
requires methods of vector analysis and differential
equations. We will briefly review these mathematical
concepts in the first few lectures of the class. In
this class, we will entirely focus on static
(time-independent) fields interacting with charges at
rest or in steady motion. In this case, the electric
and magnetic fields decouple from one another so they
can be treated independently. Such independent
treatment of electrostatics and magnetostatics is the
central content of this class.
A sizable fraction of this class will be spent
computing the electric field and potential created by
a static distribution of charges. We will also discuss
how the electric field behaves within conductors and
insulators. The second part of the class will be spent
computing magnetic field resulting from static
currents, including how the magnetic field behaves in
the presence of insulating matter. Time-dependent
electric and magnetic fields created by moving charges
and nonsteady currents will be covered in the next
Electricity and Magnetism course, PHYS 406.
Instructor
Tuesdays and Wednesdays 1:00-2:00pm at my office PAIS
3214 These are my preferred "office" hours. If
you can't make my regular office hours, or if your
questions cannot wait, please send me an email to set
up an appointment.
Teaching assistant
The teaching assistant is Loc Ngo (ngophucducloc1995@unm.edu).
He will be available on Fridays 10-11am for you to
come by in PAIS 3414 and
discuss any homework grading issues you may have. If
you need to schedule an appointment outside of the
TA's office hours please send him an email.
Grading
The grading in the course will be based on your
performance in homework assignments, two midterm
exams, and a final exam. The contribution to the final
grade is as follows:
Attendance/Class participation will count for 10%
of the final grade.
Homework: there will be 9 assignments, which will
represent the 25% of the final grade.
Two midterm exams: each of them will represent the
20% of the final grade.
Final: will represent the remaining 25% of the
final grade.
The midterm exams are tentatively scheduled for
February 22 and April 12 during
class time, and the final exam will be held during
exam week on May 10 12:30pm.
Homework assignments
There will be 9 assignments during the semester.
The assignments will be posted in the tentative schedule
about 7-10 days before they are due. The login
information necessary to access the homework PDFs
will be provided in the first class. The homework must be submitted at
my office on the day they are due. Late
Homework assignments will be accepted but with a 25%
penalty for each day past the deadline. So a
homework handed-in within 24 hrs of the deadline
will carry a 25% penalty, one handed-in within 48
hrs will carry a 50% penalty, as so on. Let me know if you are
planning on submitting your homework late such
that I can delay the posting of the solutions.
The corresponding solutions will be posted here, and
homework assignments submitted after solutions
post will not be graded.
While I strongly
encourage you to discuss the homework
assignments with your classmates, the work you
hand in must be entirely yours.
Problems class
Listed officially as
PHYS 415, this is a very
important adjunct to the main lecture class, taking
place every Wednesday from 4 to 4:50pm in PAIS 1140.
It will provide you additional practice with solving
problems beyond the homework assignments and self
study. Furthermore, the class will also give you a
valuable opportunity to bring to my attention your
difficulties with any concepts covered in the
lecture class so I can address them in a group
setting. The problem sheets would be posted here
on the Tuesday before the problem class. The
corresponding solutions will be posted after the
class. You will receive credit for the problems
class as long as you register and show up for more
than 10 sessions. Even if you don't register for the
class, I encourage you to attend anyway, just to get
the extra practice.