N.B. The material presented in Mini-Lecture 12a from week 4 will not be covered in a live lecture. Therefore you should follow Mini-Lecture 12a online. Please do this BEFORE Monday's live lecture!
In Week 5 we shall continue the process of building 4-vectors for electrodynamics (Mini-Lecture 12b), and we shall write down some of the principal equations of electrodynamics in terms of those 4-vectors in Minkowski notation (Mini-Lecture 13).
There are two interactive sessions each week: in the Simon lecture theatre A (Monday) and Stopford lecture theatre 6 (Wednesday).
There are two mini-lectures, with associated small exercises and lecture notes provided, but all of the core material for this week will be covered in `live lectures'.
There are official 3rd year examples classes this week.
⚬ Monday 15:00-16:00 - Live Lecture 12: 4-vectors for electrodynamics and re-writing the equations of electrodynamics in Minkowski notation
This live lecture covers approximately the same material as mini-lectures 12b and the beginning of 13.
Lecture 12 Podcast ............. Notes written to visualiser ............. Exercises from lecture
⚬ Wednesday 9:00-10:00 - Live Lecture 13: More electrodynamics in Lorentz-covariant notation
This live lecture completes the material of mini-lecture 13. It also anticipates some material from mini-lecture 15b (Lorentz transformation of the field tensor).
Lecture Podcast ............. Notes written to visualiser ............. Exercises from lecture ............. Answers
By clicking on the links given below you will be able to access the video of each mini-lecture, together with the associated small exercises and lecture notes.
Mini-Lecture 12b: 4-vectors for electrodynamics (part 2). The 4-momentum and the 4-current
Video ............. Lecture notes written to visualiser
Mini-Lecture 13: The 4-potential and the Lorentz-covariant formulation of the wave equation and other equations of electrodynamics
Video ............. Lecture notes written to visualiser ............. Exercises from mini-lecture ............. Answers
Mini-Lecture 12a and 12b: Building 4-vectors for electrodynamics
Note to avoid a potential source of confusion: In some versions of the 4th Edition of D.J.Griffiths, Introduction to Electrodynamics, the chapter entitled "Electrodynamics and Relativity" is Chapter 12. Unfortunately, in some other versions of the 4th Edition it is chapter 11!
Special Relativity and 4-vectors: Revision of Physics and Notation
Jeff Forshaw and Gavin Smith, Dynamics and Relativity: Chapters 5, 6, 7, 11 and 12.
D.J. Griffiths, Introduction to Electrodynamics: Chapter 12. (N.B. if in your edition of Griffiths, chapter 12 in entitled "Potentials and Fields" then try looking in chapter 11!)
J.D. Jackson, Classical Electrodynamics: Chapter 11.
The Feynman Lectures on Physics, Volume 1: Chapters 15-17.
The Feynman Lectures on Physics, Volume 2: Chapters 25-26.
Continue reading the material suggested above for Special Relativity and in particular for .........
The potentials and fields produced by a point charge moving with constant velocity
The Feynman Lectures on Physics, Volume 2: Chapter 26.
For a really instructive alternative derivation of the potentials produced by a point charge moving with constant velocity from the point of view of retarded time see: The Feynman Lectures on Physics, Volume 2: Chapters 21.6.
J.D. Jackson, Classical Electrodynamics: Chapter 11.10.
N.B. Many texts treat the problem of a point charge moving with constant velocity from the perspective of the so-called "Lienard-Wiechert" potentials. We'll discuss these potentials in a few lectures' time in preparation for radiation, but if you'd like to take a look at this formulation you might try:
D.J. Griffiths, Introduction to Electrodynamics: Chapter 10.3. (N.B. if in your edition of Griffiths, chapter 10 in entitled "Radiation" then try looking in chapter 12!)
M.A. Heald and J.B. Marion, Classical Electromagnetic Radiation (3rd edition): Chapter 8.1-8.5.