Electrodynamics: A Concise Introduction

This textbook is intended for advanced undergraduates or beginning graduates. It is based on the notes from courses I have taught at Indiana State University from 1967 to the present. The preparation needed is an introductory calculus-based course in physics and its prerequisite calculus courses. Courses in vector analysis and differential equations are useful but not required, since the text introduces these topics. In writing this book, I tried to keep my own experience as a stu­ dent in mind and to write the kind of book I liked to read. That goal determined the choice of topics, their order, and the method of presentation. The organization of the book is intended to encourage independent study. Accordingly, I have made every effort to keep the material self-contained, to develop the mathematics as it is needed, and to present new material by building incrementally on preceding material. In organizing the text, I have taken care to give explicit cross references, to show the intermediate steps in calculations, and to give many examples. Provided they are within the mathematical scope of this book, I have preferred elegant mathematical treatments over more ad hoc ones, not only for aesthetic reasons, but because they are often more profound and indicate connections to other branches of physics. I have emphasized physical understanding by presenting mechanical models. This book is organized somewhat differently from the traditional textbook at this level.

This book, suitable for use in a one-semester introduction to electrodynamics for advanced undergraduates, emphasizes relativity and symmetry iv developing the theory. By focusing immediately on the Lorentz invariance of Maxwell's equations, the presentation makes many advanced topics readily accessible to the student.