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PHY 415: Electromagnetic Theory I
Unit 8Unit 1 • Unit 2 • Unit 3 •Unit 4 • Unit 5 • Unit 6 • Unit 7 • Unit 8 Final Project The final project will demonstrate that you have achieved the true goal of this class: to be able to read and learn new topics in electromagnetism on your own, and then demonstrate your understanding to others! This course is finite, and so there are many topics that would be appropriate to discuss, but we will simply not have the time to do so. The final project will allow you to explore some of these topics. The class will be divided into 6 groups of 4 students each. You must each email me by Monday, November 1, 5pm, if you have particular classmates you would like to work with. I will take your preferences into consideration, and you will get your group assignment by Thursday, November 4. Each group should then discuss among themselves and make an ordered list of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd choices from the topics below, and email me that list no later than Monday, November 8, 5pm. I will then notify each group of their topic on Thursday, November 11. No topic can be used by more than two groups, so the sooner you send me your preferences, the more likely it is that you will get your preferred choice. When you click on the above links for each topic, you will go to a page discussing the topic, and what things you should try to do. You can use this description as a guide, but you are also encouraged to read up on your own from other sources. Your group will then write a short (no more than 4-5 pages, double column format) article about your topic. Your article should contain an introduction explaining why this topic is interesting and important. The body of the article should contain enough explanation and derivation of the effect, so that your classmates, who are unfamiliar with this topic, should feel they understand what it is about. You should not give every last detail of your derivations, but rather just enough detail that the reader has enough information to understand your arguments, and would feel comfortable filling in the missing steps on their own. You should not rely on lots of references to explain things, your paper should be self-contained, assuming of the reader only a level of physics appropriate to first year graduate students. Your article should conclude with a short summary of the main points and why they are important.
Your paper, uploaded to Blackboard, is due Monday, Debember 8, by 9am. I will critique your paper and give you the results by Thursday, December 9, at noon. Your group will then have to prepare a presentation (Powerpoint slides or similar) to be given to the class during the time scheduled for our final exam, Tuesday, December 14, 12:30 - 3:30 pm. Each presentation should last 20 minutes and then there will be 5 minutes for questions. Attendance at this session is required. Your grade on this final project will be determined both by your article (50%) and by your presentation (50%). A large part of the grade for the article will go towards how clearly you have explained your work, not just whether you have gotten the physics correct. For the presentation, half of the grade will be given by myself, and half the grade will be determined by ratings you receive from your classmates in the audience. To summarize, the timeline of the final project is as follows:
For writing up your paper I would like you to use the REVTeX package for LaTeX2e. LaTeX2e is a document composing language particularly well suited for scientific manuscripts. REVTeX is the particular style format for Physical Review, the collection of journals published by the American Physical Society. Please use the two column PRE format. You might find it useful to assign different members of your group to different tasks. For example, one person might be given the job of writing in REVTeX, while another one or two focus on the topic. Someone else could focus on the style of the paper to improve its readibility. Someone else could focus on preparing the presentation slides. Such division of effort is up to you!
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