Overview

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• Quick Links
• Announcements
• Syllabus and Schedule, Problem Sets, and Solutions
• Vital Information
• Textbook(s)
• Policies and Grading
• Announcements Archive

Announcements

• 2013/05/22: No TA office hour today due to travel.  Please contact Liling or David if you need assistance, and instructor office hours will be on Thursday 6:30-8:30 as usual.
  
• 2013/05/22: Ditch day policy: Depending on which day ends up being ditch day:
  
• If on a lecture day, then lecture will be skipped and some of the relativity material will be dropped at the end of term.
• If on a Friday, then homework will be given a 24-hour extension to Saturday 4 pm.  Please make sure you  have a way to get into Bridge over the weekend.  I believe undergraduates have card access.  Graduate students may not have access, but, since graduate students don't participate in ditch day, there is no rationale for delaying the due date for them.  If there is a fundamental reason this scheme will not work (such as building access), please contact me.
  
• 2013/05/21: We did an experiment today where I lectured from the notes slides instead of writing on the board.  The preference seemed to be for the lecturing from the notes, as long as I go slowly enough and work through all the steps.  We'll try this again on Thursday.
  

Syllabus and Schedule, Problem Sets, and Solutions

Below you will find the outline of the E&M portion of Ph106bc.  I will fill in details of the topics covered in lectures, suggested reading, problem sets and solutions as the term progresses. The assignments will be due on Fridays, and will be available on the website about a week before the due date. Note that they are listed in the week they are due, rather than the week they are assigned. The schedule for the lectures and assignments may change as the term progresses.

The lecture notes, problem sets, and solutions are only accessible to computers with a Caltech IP address (either direct or by VPN). Please let me know if you are enrolled in the class and this causes problems for you, and I will make other arrangements.

In the suggested reading, G stands for Introduction to Electrodynamics by Griffiths, LN for Lecture Notes, HM stands for Classical Electromagnetism by Heald and Marion, J for Classical Elecrodynamics by Jackson, and LL for The Classical Theory of Fields by Landau and Lifshitz.  Reading given in parentheses is optional (intended only to tell you where I am drawing material from).

Vital Information

Textbook(s)

• Required: Introduction to Electrodynamics, Griffiths (4th Edition!) available via the online textbook store.  No guarantees are made about whether the 3rd edition is sufficient for the course.  Note that only the 3rd edition is available in the library reserve, but a 4th edition copy has been ordered.
  
  
• Optional (on open reserve at Fairchild Library):
  

• Heald and Marion, Classical Electromagnetic Radiation
• Jackson, Classical Electrodynamics: the bible, but too advanced for this course
  
• Landau and Lifshiftz, The Classical Theory of Fields
• Landau and Lifshiftz, Electrodynamics of Continuous Media


• Lecture Notes:
  
  Updated 2013/05/21 2:30 pm (through lecture 23): pdf
  
  My lecture notes will in general follow Griffiths and are primarily intended as a distillation for my personal use.  It will appear in class that I am working directly from them because I am -- that's why they're called lecture notes!  My goals in making them available to you are:
  
  • To provide clarification of points in Griffiths that I thought deserved more or alternate explanation.
    
  • To present additional explanation or material derived from other texts; the references will be provided in the notes.
  • To get all the algebra down on the page, correctly, so that I don't get bogged down on the board and so that you don't have to transcribe everything that I write.
  
  I do not consider myself responsible for providing updated copies of the lecture notes well ahead of class time -- they are being written as the course is being given.  They will be posted promptly after class.  I suggest that you spend your time in class following the lecture at a conceptual level and noting down for yourself points or derivations that were not clear to you; when you review the posted notes, you may find your questions answered.  If not, you are welcome to ask for clarification.  And, of course, please ask questions during lecture!
  
  The lecture notes may relieve you of the obligation of coming to lecture.  That's your choice.  Some students benefit from being able to receive information aurally and to interact during that process; others prefer to read it off the page.  Whatever works for you.  Grades are based only on the written work you hand back. 
  
  But please do not delude yourself into thinking that, because the lecture notes are available, you can just skim through it all on the day before a problem set or exam is due and expect to immediately become expert.  Learning requires time to mull over concepts in your mind, for your subconscious to work on ideas and problems.  If you choose not to come to class, please be disciplined about keeping up with the material in your own study time.
  
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Policies and Grading

The courses will continue the policies laid out by Prof. Cross for Ph106b.  In particular, problem set and exam policies given there apply to the second-half problem sets and final exam.

Note especially that the "one free extension" rule applies to the entire term, not to each half, for Ph106b.

Problem sets should be turned in by Friday at 4 pm to the Ph106 box outside 201 E. Bridge.  They will be available for pickup either in class or in my administrator's office (307 Cahill).  She is usually there 8-4 pm except 12-1 pm Monday-Thursday.  I can open up her office to give you your problem set on Fridays, but I am not always in my office, so you'll have to send me email ahead of time to find a time I am available.

The weighting for problem sets and exams in the final grade for Ph106b will be:

• 25% first half problem sets
• 25% midterm exam
  
• 25% second half problem sets
• 25% final exam
  

For Ph106c, the split will be

• 50% problem sets
• 25% midterm exam
• 25% final exam
  

Use of mathematical software like Mathematica is allowed, but will not be available for exams.  From a former colleague: It is absolutely essential that you develop a strong intuition for basic calculations involving linear algebra, differential equations, and the like.  The only way to develop this intuition is by working lots of problems by hand; skipping this phase of your education is a really bad idea.

Grade Distributions

Ph106b:

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