Welcome to Physics 514 Winter 2021

Electromagnetism and Relativity, MWF 11:00-12:20 on-line

Prof. Gerald A. Miller miller@uw.edu, B484, zoom:

Office Hours -Thursday 3:30pm-4:30pm, via Zoom as indicated in CANVAS. or please make an appointment. To contact me, use the email address listed above. TAs : Isaac Shelby ishelby@uw.edu, fwalsh2@uw.edu

Lectures will be delivered via zoom, accessed and recordings posted in CANVAS. Pdfs of handwritten lecture notes will be made available after the lectures, posted in CANVAS.

This course is concerned with a reviewing Maxwell's equations and applying them to a diverse set of situations. The aim is to enhance your ability to understand research papers that involve the use of the many concepts of and related to E&M. This involves being able to understand the origin and meaning of the equations in those papers. In other words, the aim is to bring your ability to apply math to relevant physics problem up to a professional level. Modern physics examples will be introduced when relevant. The textbook is Jackson. Another book is Zangwell's ``Modern Electrodynamics", which sometimes has more intuitive explanations than found in Jackson.

The content will include Chapts 6- 9 of Jackson. An approximate schedule is listed below. You are encouraged to read or at least glance at the relevant textbook sections before the given lecture. This will help your understanding.

Jan. 4- Jan 8: 6.1- 6.5,9.1,6.7

Jan 11-15 9.2-9.3, 6.10 ,6.11

Grading:

Homework will be assigned every week or so, generally due on Fridays. Doing the assigned problems is probably the most important ingredient in learning the material, and your scores on these represent 25 % of the grade. You may, and should discuss the hw problems with fellow students, but the solutions must be your own. It is important to hand in the homework on time in CANVAS on the due date & time. No late homework will be accepted. This is because solutions will be posted soon after the deadline. Each individual homework problem is worth 10 points. There will one midterm (30%) and the final exam (45%). Exams are closed book, closed notes, no use of other sources, but open minds. A page of equations will be provided to reduce memorization. There are no make-up exams. I am willing to listen

The scope of the midterm will be discussed later in the quarter.

Class email list phys514a_wi21@uw.edu This is my primary means to message you. MAKE SURE THAT THIS IS IN YOUR CONTACTS, ADDRESS BOOK, ETC.

Scheduling issues:

Midterm Exam Wed. Feb. 10, 11:00-12:20,

Final exam: Wed, March 17, 2:30-4:20.

. Homework assignments will be posted in CANVAS. The first one is due on Friday Jan 15.

Misconduct: Academic misconduct is a serious offense. See https://www.washington.edu/cssc/facultystaff/academic-misconduct/ for policy and reporting procedures. The above grading description applies only to students who uphold academic integrity; grades will be lowered, possibly to zero, for students found to have engaged in academic misconduct. There could also be other sanctions. Respectful conduct is expected of all, see https://www.washington.edu/studentconduct/. Students are encouraged to bring any instances of problematic behavior to the attention of the instructor and to contact SafeCampus (206-685-7233 anytime) with concerns for yourself or others.

Religious Accommodations: Washington state law requires that UW develop a policy for accommodation of student absences or significant hardship due to reasons of faith or conscience, or for organized religious activities. The UW policy, including more information about how to request an accommodation, is available at Religious Accommodations Policy (https://registrar.washington.edu/staffandfaculty/religious-accommodations-policy/). Accommodations must be requested within the first two weeks of this course using the Religious Accommodations Request form (https://registrar.washington.edu/students/religious-accommodations-request/).