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PHY 415: Electromagnetic Theory I
Prof. S. Teitel stte@pas.rochester.edu ---- Fall 2013

 Sunday, December 22, 2013

The Final Exam and its Solutions are now posted on the Homework page.

Course grades have been submitted to the registrar.  You can see your course grade and your final exam grade by going to the Blackboard system.  If you have a physics mailbox I will leave your exam for you in your mailbox.  If not, you may pick it up from me when you like.

Happy Holidays!

 Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Solutions to Problem Set 8 are now posted on the Homework page.

Notes through the last lecture 29 are posted on the Lecture Notes page.

The FINAL EXAM will be Saturday, December 21, at 7:15 pm in BL 269. You will have 3 hours for the exam. The exam will focus on the material since the midterm exam, but you are responsible for the material covered anywhere in the semester. The exam is closed book, closed notes. GOOD LUCK!

 Monday, December 9, 2013

Notes through lecture 28 are posted on the Lecture Notes page.

The online course evaluation system is now open. Access it from the Blackboard system. PLEASE PLEASE take a few moments to fill out the evaluation, your feedback is very important to me.

 Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Problem Set 8, due Wednesday, December 11, is now posted on the Homework page.

Solutions to Problem Set 7 are posted on the Homework page.

Notes through lecture 27 are posted on the Lecture Notes page.

 Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Notes through lecture 26 are posted on the Lecture Notes page.

 Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Notes through lecture 25 are posted on the Lecture Notes page.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

 Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Notes through lecture 24 are posted on the Lecture Notes page.

 Sunday, November 24, 2013

Notes through lecture 23 are posted on the Lecture Notes page.

 Wednesday, November 20, 2013

There will be a special extra lecture this Friday, November 22, from 2:00 - 3:15 pm in BL 375.

Solutions to Problem Set 6 are posted on the Homework page.

Notes through lecture 22 are posted on the Lecture Notes page.

 Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Problem Set 7, due Wednesday, December 4, is now posted on the Homework page.

Notes through lecture 21 are posted on the Lecture Notes page.

 Thursday, November 14, 2013

Problem Set 6, due Wednesday, November 20, is now posted on the Homework page.

Solutions to Problem Set 5 are now posted on the Homework page.

Notes through lecture 20 are posted on the Lecture Notes page.

 Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Notes through lecture 19 are now posted on the Lecture Notes page.

Also posted are some supllemental notes on force, torque, and energy of electric and magnetic dipoles in applied fields.

 Sunday, November 10, 2013

Notes through lecture 18 are posted on the Lecture Notes page.

 Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Problem Set 5, due Wednesday, November 13, is now posted on the Homework page.

Notes through lecture 17 are posted on the Lecture Notes page.

 Sunday, November 3, 2013

The Midterm Exam and its solution are posted on the Homework page.

 Friday, November 1, 2013

When we discussed the derivation of the polarization density, we allowed for the possibility that the molecules of which the material is composed could have a net charge. A student then asked how we knew where we should take the origin when computing the dipole moment of the molecule, since that dipole moment would depend on the location of the origin when the net charge is not zero.

In the lecture I chose the origin as the center of mass of the molecule. Here is why that is the correct choice. The goal is to model the molecule as an effective point particle with various properties: charge, dipole moment, quadrapole moment, etc. To describe the response of the material to applied fields, we then need to know how the molecules will move in the presence of such applied fields. The dynamics of such a composite particle in response to the forces acting on it is via the motion of its center of mass. Hence we should take the center of mass as the origin of the molecule for computing its various electrostatic moments.

 Thursday, October 31, 2013

In the last class a student asked a question about problem 4 on HW 3 -- the conducting cylinder in a uniform electric field.  The question was how we know that the term proportional to ln(r) in the general expression for the electrostatic potential must vanish.  The question arose because the E field from such a term would vanish as r went to infinity and so would seem not to be in conflict with the required asymptotic limit given by the uniform applied field E0.

As was stated by another student in class.  If there was a ln(r) term, that would correspond to a net charge on the cylinder, since we know that a line charge has such a ln(r) potential.  So if we think there is no such line charge on the cylinder, this term would vanish.  But since the cylinder is grounded, we do not apriori know that there is no charge on the cylinder -- a conductor kept at a fixed potential can indeed have a net charge transferred to it by the battery that is holding it at the fixed potential.  The problem is a bit ill-posed, since when we say a conductor is grounded, we really mean it is at zero potential with respect to infinity which is also at zero potential.  But here we can't fix the potential to zero at infinity.  So from the purely mathematical point of view, the ln(r) term could be allowed.  One would have to know some more information, such as the cylinder is neutral, in order to fix the ln(r) term to zero or something else.

Hope that was not too confusing!

 Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Notes through lecture 16 are now posted on the Lecture Notes page.

MIDTERM EXAM this Friday, 2:00 - 3:30 pm in BL 375. Closed book, closed notes.

 Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Notes through lecture 15 are now posted on the Lecture Notes page.

 Thursday, October 24, 2013

Update: The MIDTERM EXAM will take place in BL 375.

Remember, the MIDTERM EXAM will be next week, Friday, November 1, from 2:00 to 3:30 pm. I will let you know the room (it will not be BL 480 as was announced earlier). The exam is closed book, closed notes. It will cover all material up to and including magnetostatics. The Macroscopic Maxwell Equations will not be included.

Solutions to Problem Set 4 are now posted on the Homework page.

Notes through lecture 14 are posted on the Lecture Notes page.

 Monday, October 21, 2013

Notes through lecture 13 are now posted on the Lecture Notes page.

 Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Notes through lecture 12 are now posted on the Lecture Notes page.

 Tuesday, October 15, 2013

The MIDTERM EXAM has been scheduled for Friday, November 1, from 2:00 to 3:30 pm. It will be in BL 480.

Problem Set 4, due Wednesday, October 23, is now posted on the Homework page. You might not be able to do the last problem until after next Monday's lecture.

Solutions to Problem Set 3 are posted on the Homework page.

Notes through lecture 11 are posted on the Lecture Notes page.

 Friday, October 11, 2013

Notes through lecture 10 are now posted on the Lecture Notes page. Also are posted some notes on the eigenfunction expansion for the Green's function; we did not discuss this in lecture.

 Thursday, October 3, 2013

Problem Set 3, due Monday, October 14, is now posted on the Homework page.

Solutions to Problem Set 2 are now posted on the Homework page.

Notes through lecture 9 are now posted on the Lecture Notes page.

 Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Notes through lecture 8 are now posted on the Lecture Notes page.

 Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Notes through lecture 7 are now posted on the Lecture Notes page.

 Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Problem Set 2, due Wednesday, October 2, is now posted on the Homework page.

Solutions to Problem Set 1 are posted on the Homework page.

Notes through lecture 6 are posted on the Lecture Notes page. Also are posted some supplemental notes about the Green's function for Dirichlet and Neumann boundary value problems; we did not discuss this in lecture.

 Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Notes through lecture 5 are posted on the Lecture Notes page.

 Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Notes through lecture 4 are posted on the Lecture Notes page.

 Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Notes through lecture 3 are posted on the Lecture Notes page.

Problem Set 1, due Monday September 23, is now posted on the Homework page. We should have covered all the material you need to do this set after one more lecture.

 Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Notes through lecture 2 are now posted on the Lecture Notes page.

 Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Notes for Lecture 1 are now posted on the Lecture Notes page.

I have sent you an email message to test that I have your correct email address. If you have not received it, please let me know.

 Wednesday, August 23, 2013

Welcome to PHY 415, Electromagnetic Theory I. All schedule and course information, homeworks and solutions, and lecture notes will be posted on this website.

For those of you who wish to read my lectures ahead of time, you can find links to this course in previous years at:

http://www.pas.rochester.edu/~stte/phy415F11
http://www.pas.rochester.edu/~stte/phy415F10