Phys331 & Phys332

What are these courses?

For a formal answer to this question, see

and

More informally, Phys331 introduces the concepts of electrostatics and magnetostatics, and expands on how one can mathematically model (and, if posible, analytically understand) these natural phenomena. Phys332 then builds on these to introduce electrodynamics with which one extends to advanced topics such as electromagnetic waves, radiation, and special theory of relativity.

Who can/should take these courses?

This is a must course for any undergraduate student in the department of Physics (see the curriculum). Assuming that you have taken a sufficient set of prerequisite courses (see Phys331 and Phys332), you should take these courses too.

When/where are these courses?

I am teaching Phys331 in this semester (20251) and the classes are as follows:

See here for the location of classrooms!

What are the course policies?

General:

• You accept by taking this course that you have read and agreed my policies in soneralbayrak.com/teaching/MyTeachingPolicy.

• The overall score for the course is calculated with the following algorithm:

  

• The grades awarded previous semesters are available along with a statistical analysis of the students’ performance. The link https://soneralbayrak.com/teaching/files/331_20251_infographic.png takes you to these statistics of the course Phys331 for the $1$st semester of the academic year 2025-2026. You can access other statistics by changing 331 and 20251 appropriately.

Course Material:

• The textbook for both Phys331 and Phys332 is “Introduction to Electrodynamics” by Griffiths ($4^{\text{th}}$ edition).
• For supplementary reading, you may also consult to “Electricity and Magnetism” (Purcell & Morin), “Modern Electrodynamics” (Zangwill), and “Classical Electrodynamics” (Jackson). Note that these books are of increasingly more advanced level, with Jackson practically being a graduate level book.
• I list suggested problems from these sources here: feel free to check them!
• For self-study, you may check out the previous examinations although the similarity of the exams among different semesters is not necessarily high. For instance, the link https://soneralbayrak.com/teaching/files/331_20251_exam2.pdf takes you to the $2$nd exam in the $1$st semester of the academic year 2025-2026 for the course Phys331. You can access other exams by changing 331, exam2 and 20251 appropriately.

What will you learn in these courses?

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(1) Electrostatics:

1.

Basics: The electric field, electric scalar potential, work and energy in electrostatics, conductors

2.

Analytical tools of electrostatics: Laplace’s equation and seperation of variables, the method of images, multipole expansion

(2) Magnetostatics: The magnetic field, magnetic vector potential

(3) Stationary electromagnetic fields in matter: Polarization and magnetization, the field of polarized and magnetized objects, electric displacement field and magnetic field intensity, analysis of dielectric and diamagnetric materials ______________________________________________

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(1) Electrodynamics: Electromotive force, electromagnetic induction, Maxwell’s equations

(2) Conservation laws: Charge and energy, momentum

(3) Electromagnetic waves: Analysis in vacuum, analysis in matter, further topics (absorption, dispersion, wave guides, transmission, radiation to infinity, etc.)

(4) Relativistic treatment: Special theory of relativity, relativistic electrodynamics

What is the course calendar?