Description of the academic discipline

This is the first part of Electrodynamics, which is a fundamental part of the basic course of theoretical physics.

Aim: to form in the future physicist a holistic picture of the physical phenomena associated with the electromagnetic field. This involves outlining the basics of the theory of electromagnetic processes in vacuum, deepening the knowledge gained in the general course on electricity, studying Maxwell-Lorentz electromagnetic field theory and relativistic electromagnetic field theory. The subject of the discipline includes the basic concepts and laws of classical electrodynamics related to charges and currents in vacuum and the theory of radiation.

Objective: Teaching students to perform the calculations in order to solve electrodynamics problems. Student have to realize that numerous phenomena and laws studied in the general course of physics are the consequences of fundamental general principles and equations.

As a result of studying this course the student must

know the basic concepts of electrodynamics; fundamental laws of the electromagnetic field; basic principles of the theory of electromagnetic field in vacuum; basic concepts of the theory of radiation.

be able to: obtain Maxwell’s equation in vacuum; derive the equation of the electromagnetic field using the potentials; write the variational principle for the electromagnetic field; write the equations of electrodynamics in 3-dimensional form; to formulate the essence of multipole expansions for the electromagnetic field; apply the methods of classical electrodynamics to solve specific problems; solve main types of problems of classical electrodynamics.

To study the discipline, the knowledge of the following parts of mathematics and physics is required: mathematical analysis, vector analysis, differential equations, mechanics, electricity.