Classical Electrodynamics

Starting from Maxwell's equations, advanced knowledge of electromagnetism and special relativity is provided. The generation and propagation of electromagnetic waves in vacuum and in dielectric media, the covariant formalism of the electromagnetic field and the emission of radiation from accelerated charges are studied.

At the end of the course the student will acquire the following skills:

1. will be able to describe the phenomenology of dispersion and absorption of radiation in a linear medium;

2. will be able to describe the phenomenology of radiation emission by distributions of accelerated charges;

3. will be able to describe the relativistic dynamics of charged particles in electromagnetic fields;

4. will be able to tackle specific electrodynamic problems in different fields of physics (accelerators, particle physics, astrophysics) concerning the relativistic dynamics of charged particles and radiation emission;

5. will be able to follow field theory courses in a profitable way using the acquired knowledge of relativistic electrodynamics.