• Offered by Research School of Physics
  • ANU College ANU Joint Colleges of Science
  • Classification Advanced
  • Course subject Physics
  • Areas of interest Photonics, Physics
  • Academic career PGRD
  • Course convener
    • Ilya Shadrivov
  • Mode of delivery In Person
  • Co-taught Course
  • Offered in First Semester 2022
    See Future Offerings

See https://www.anu.edu.au/covid-19-advice. In Sem 1 2022, this course is delivered on campus with adjustments for remote participants.

Content will focus on concepts and practical application of Maxwell's equations aiming to develop understanding of fundamental effects of electromagnetism and optics. This includes guiding, radiation and scattering of electromagnetic waves, and particle dynamics in electromagnetic fields. Content will also include the relativistic formulation of Maxwell's equations and application of the relativistic formulation of Maxwell's equations.


This course is co-taught with undergraduate students but assessed separately.

Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion, students will have the knowledge and skills to:

  1. Have an advanced understanding of Maxwell's equations and have gained practical experience in solving Maxwell's equations using analytic and numerical techniques.
  2. Understand the wave solutions of electromagnetism and their relevance to optics including propagation of electromagnetic waves in materials, birefringence, boundary conditions at material interfaces and reflection and transmission of waves at interfaces, polarisation, spatial phase, coherence, Fourier theory and spatial filtering, Maxwell stress tensor and mechanical forces exerted by electromagnetic waves, radiation from time dependent charge distributions.
  3. Discuss modern physics using covariant (relativistic formulation) of electrodynamics including four vectors, the electromagnetic field tensor, Lagrangians and fields, gauge transformations and symmetries.
  4. Apply the covariant formulation of electricity and magnetism to brehmstrahlung and related effects
  5. Explain the purpose and advantages of writing physical laws in tensor form.
  6. Develop critical thinking and problem-solving abilities with application to a diverse range of practical problems in electrodynamics.
  7. Demonstrate effective oral and written communication skills and be able to research and explain scientific concepts.

Indicative Assessment

  1. Assignments and reports (25) [LO 1,2,3,4]
  2. Mid term Exam (30) [LO 1,2,3,4,5]
  3. Final Exam (30) [LO 1,2,3,4,5]
  4. Research topic oral presentation (15) [LO 1,2,3,4,5,6,7]

The ANU uses Turnitin to enhance student citation and referencing techniques, and to assess assignment submissions as a component of the University's approach to managing Academic Integrity. While the use of Turnitin is not mandatory, the ANU highly recommends Turnitin is used by both teaching staff and students. For additional information regarding Turnitin please visit the ANU Online website.

Workload

The course will be taught in flipped classroom (blended) mode. The expected workload will consist of approximately 130 hours throughout the semester including:

·        Face-to face component which will consist of 3 hours of mandatory workshop per week (36 hours total), 12 hours of tutorials throughout the semester.

·        Approximately 80 hours of self directed study which will include on-line content, background reading, work on assignments and oral presentation

·        Students are expected to actively participate and contribute towards discussions.

Inherent Requirements

To be determined

Requisite and Incompatibility

To enrol in this course you must be active in the Master of Science in Theoretical Physics or Mather of Science (Advanced) in Theoretical Physics Incompatible with PHYS3102

Prescribed Texts

Introduction to electrodynamics 4th edition, David J Griffiths, Prentice Hall, SBN-10: 9332550441.

Modern Electrodynamics, Andrew Zangwill. Cambridge University Press, ISBN-9780521896979 

Assumed Knowledge

Multi variable calculus. Ordinary and partial differential equations and the solution of boundary value problems. Vector calculus including gradient, divergence and curl, Stoke's theorem and the divergence theorem. 

Fees

Tuition fees are for the academic year indicated at the top of the page.  

Commonwealth Support (CSP) Students
If you have been offered a Commonwealth supported place, your fees are set by the Australian Government for each course. At ANU 1 EFTSL is 48 units (normally 8 x 6-unit courses). More information about your student contribution amount for each course at Fees

Student Contribution Band:
2
Unit value:
6 units

If you are a domestic graduate coursework student with a Domestic Tuition Fee (DTF) place or international student you will be required to pay course tuition fees (see below). Course tuition fees are indexed annually. Further information for domestic and international students about tuition and other fees can be found at Fees.

Where there is a unit range displayed for this course, not all unit options below may be available.

Units EFTSL
6.00 0.12500
Domestic fee paying students
Year Fee
2022 $4200
International fee paying students
Year Fee
2022 $6000
Note: Please note that fee information is for current year only.

Offerings, Dates and Class Summary Links

ANU utilises MyTimetable to enable students to view the timetable for their enrolled courses, browse, then self-allocate to small teaching activities / tutorials so they can better plan their time. Find out more on the Timetable webpage.

The list of offerings for future years is indicative only.
Class summaries, if available, can be accessed by clicking on the View link for the relevant class number.

First Semester

Class number Class start date Last day to enrol Census date Class end date Mode Of Delivery Class Summary
3506 21 Feb 2022 28 Feb 2022 31 Mar 2022 27 May 2022 In Person View

Responsible Officer: Registrar, Student Administration / Page Contact: Website Administrator / Frequently Asked Questions