Phys 703: Electromagnetic Theory (32115) TTH 9:35-10:50 Th 434. Graduate course in electromagnetic theory, with computer applications.

Prerequisites: Ph 485 (Introduction to Theoretical Physics) and Ph 701 (Classical Mechanics).

Instructor: Roger Bland - email bland@stars.sfsu.edu, office Th 316, phone 338-2433; lab Th 208, phone 338-1969; home phone 664-3982. Office hours to be arranged.

Text: Classical Electrodynamics, ed. 2, by John David Jackson (Wiley, 1975 ); div grad curl and all that, 3rd edition, by H.M. Schey (paperback) is a good reference on vector calculus, and Mathematical Physics, by E. Butkov, is one of the standard mathematical references.

Material to be covered: Jackson, parts of Ch. 1-7 and 11; solution of Laplace's equation by the relaxation method; computer applications.

Homework: There will be homework assigned each week, both problems from the text and computer problems. The homework is required. I recommend working in groups, following the maxim: collective thought, individual expression. Late homework will not be accepted, but partial solutions turned in on time will be considered sympathetically.

Exams: There will be two take-home midterms and a comprehensive final. In addition, there may be a short quiz every Thursday.

Grading: The grade will be based on the homework and exam grades as follows: final exam, 30%; midterms, 20%; quizzes, 10%; homework, 40%. People who attempt every assigned homework problem, the midterms and the final are guaranteed to pass the course.

Computer Exercises: There will be substantial use of the Department computers to carry out numerical evaluation of examples. Every person in the course should have an account on the Department server (stars), a University account (for modem access), and a computer at home which can run IDL over a phone line. We will use Mathematica, IDL, and MatLab for display and numerical modeling. We will use email and the world-wide web for communication and for presentation of numerical results. Each person will set up a WWW home page and use it to post computer assignments.