NWI-NM001B
Electrodynamics
Course infoSchedule
Course moduleNWI-NM001B
Credits (ECTS)3
CategoryMA (Master)
Language of instructionEnglish
Offered byRadboud University; Faculty of Science; Wiskunde, Natuur- en Sterrenkunde;
Lecturer(s)
Coordinator
dr. ir. G.A. de Wijs
Other course modules lecturer
Lecturer
dr. ir. G.A. de Wijs
Other course modules lecturer
Contactperson for the course
dr. ir. G.A. de Wijs
Other course modules lecturer
Examiner
dr. ir. G.A. de Wijs
Other course modules lecturer
Academic year2021
Period
KW1  (06/09/2021 to 07/11/2021)
Starting block
KW1
Course mode
full-time
Remarks-
Registration using OSIRISYes
Course open to students from other facultiesYes
Pre-registrationNo
Waiting listNo
Placement procedure-
Aims
  • The student understands the conservation laws (energy, momentum, and in particular angular momentum) and can apply these to simple physical problems.1
  • The student understands the concept of Green's function and can apply this to derive the multipole radiation formulas and Lienard-Wiechert potentials mentioned below.
  • The student can analyze oscillating charge and current distributions and calculate the radiated fields and power spectrum of the lowest multipoles (electric and magnetic dipole and electric quadrupole).1
  • The student can analyze a simple scattering process and determine the radiated fields, its polarization and power spectrum in the long-wavelength limit.1
  • The student understands the Liénard−Wiechert potential and the derivation of the acceleration fields, and can apply the resulting formalism to accelerated charges.1
  • The student is familiar with the radiation characteristics of ultra-relativistic charged particles moving in straight lines and circular orbits, e.g. synchrotron radiation.1
  • The student understands Cerenkov radiation at a qualitative level.
  • The student understands the physical basis of the Kramers-Kronig relations and can apply these to model dielectric functions.
1Level: Jackon, Classical Electrodynamics.
Content
The subject of this course is electromagnetic radiation. The course opens with short review of Maxwell's equations and the potentials, followed by the conservations laws for energy, momentum and angular momentum and a derivation of the retarded Green function from Maxwell’s equations. This Green function is the basis for the treatment of radiation, starting with the radiation of an oscillating charge distribution in the multipole expansion up to and including the quadrupole term. A further application is Rayleigh scattering and the structure function of a material.

This Green function is also used to derive the potential (Lienard-Wiechert) and radiation from an accelerated charge (e.g., Larmor formula). The special case of a constant velocity larger than the speed of light in a medium leads to a qualitative description of Cerenkov radiation. The case of uniform circular motion is worked out to the point of a qualitative treatment of the power spectrum of cyclotron and synchrotron radiation.

Other important examples that are treated in the course (if time allows) are radiation from scattering of light to a free electron (Thomson and Compton scattering) and radiation from a collision of two charges (Bremsstrahlung).
The course has an excursion into dielectric materials: the Kramers-Kronig are derived (assuming causality) and applied to model dielectric functions.

Instructional Modes
Lectures and exercise classes
Level

Presumed foreknowledge
Bachelors course electromagnetism; calculus;
advised: complex functions NB019C (contour integration is used in the single topic Kramers-Kronig)
Test information
Written examination
Specifics

Required materials
Book
J.D. Jackson, Classical Electrodynamics, Wiley, 3e editie 1998 (de oudere 2e editie volstaat ook).
Reader
Syllabus 'Electrodynamics 1 & 2'

Instructional modes
Course occurrence

Lecture

Tutorial

Tests
Exam
Test weight1
Test typeExam
OpportunitiesBlock KW1, Block KW2