CHAPTER 1.

INTRODUCTION

Chapter 1

Introduction

Office hours will be Mondays at 1pm in my office (4C2 in the London Centre for Nanotechnology). Attendance sheets
must be filled in. They’ll be given out at the start of a lecture and collated over the weeks.
Problem sheets will be given out through the term, roughly every two weeks. As detailed in the Preliminaries, the best
three problem sheets will count for 10% of the final course mark. N.B. There will be four sheets during term.
Full sets of lecture notes will be made available approximately one week after the lecture. A complete PDF file will
be available at the end of the course.

1.1 Mathematical Tools

The easy use of mathematical tools is vital to understanding electromagnetic theory.

• The differential operators transform vectors and scalars

Grad : scalar to vector F(r) = ∇ϕ(r) (1.1)

Div : vector to scalar q(r) = ∇ · F(r) (1.2)
Curl : vector to vector G(r) = ∇ × F(r) (1.3)

• These are all given in the Preliminaries handout

• They should be reasonably familiar

These should be reasonably familiar from the courses in the first and second years. Hopefully we won’t have to spend
much time on them, but they are important.

• Integrals of vectors can produce scalars or vectors

• There are 1-, 2- and 3-D integrals (line, surface and volume)

• These are all important in Electromagnetic theory !

• There are important theorems relating integrals of the differential operators

• Divergence Theorem: � �
∇ · Fdv = F · nda (1.4)
V S

• Stokes’ Theorem: � �
∇ × F · nda = F · dl (1.5)
S C
�
• Notice the importance of !

It’s useful to understand how a line integral works by considering the basic definition in terms of small steps:
� b N
�
F · dl = lim Fi · dli , (1.6)
a C N →∞
i=1

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PHAS3201: Electromagnetic Theory CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION

where C is the curve we’re integrating along. In other words, at each point along the curve we take the dot product
between the function we’re integrating and the tangent to the curve, and then sum over all these points. It should be easy
to see that, in general, the value of the line integral will depend on the curve chosen.
There are two standard ways of working out a line integral. If you are given F (x, y) along some line g(x, y), then
we can replace every occurrence of y and dy in the integral below with some functions of x (found from g(x, y)) and
integrate:
� �
F · dl = Fx (x, y)dx + Fy (x, y)dy (1.7)
C
�C
dy
= Fx (x, y(x))dx + Fy (x, y(x)) dx. (1.8)
C dx

The second way is using a parametric form. This is possible if the curve being used for the integral is given in terms
of a parameter (e.g. angle around a circle). Then we have a curve l(t) which depends on a single parameter t. So we
write:
� � b
dl
F · dl = F(l(t)) · dt (1.9)
C a dt
� b
dx dy
= Fx (x(t), y(t)) dt + Fy (x(t), y(t)) dt (1.10)
a dt dt

One important result is:

� b
∇ϕ · dl = ϕ(b) − ϕ(a), (1.11)
a

so that the line integral of a gradient is independent of path.

Surface integrals can be evaluated in a similar way, and we expect to have a surface defined; one way is like this:

r(u, v) = x(u, v)i + y(u, v)j + z(u, v)k. (1.12)

Then we know that ∂u ∂r ∂r

× ∂v is orthogonal to the surface. It is also useful to remember that for a plane passing through a
point r0 , the normal is defined as:

n̂ · (r − r0 ) = 0 (1.13)
⇒ (a, b, c) · (x − x0 , y − y0 , z − z0 ) = 0. (1.14)

It’s clear that a plane whose equation is ax + by + cz = d has a normal vector given by (a, b, c).

1.2 Overview of PHAS2201

1.2.1 Fields
• In a vacuum, the basic fields are E and B

• What are they ? What are their units ?

• When they interact with matter, there are changes

• Why should this happen ?

• We have the the fields D and H

• Be careful that you know what you’re dealing with !

The electric and magnetic fields have SI units of newtons per coulomb (or volts per metre) and tesla (equivalent to
kilograms per coulomb second !). Be careful with units: Gaussian units are quite different. Note that B is often called the
magnetic induction field, or simply the magnetic induction.
Matter responds to fields: the atoms of molecules polarize in an electric field, and respond in varied ways to a magnetic
field (both diminishing and amplifying it). The fields D and H reflect this.

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PHAS3201: Electromagnetic Theory CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION

1.2.2 Electrostatics
• For two charges, q1 and q2 at rest at points r1 and r2

Force Field
F(r2 ) = 4π� q|r1 q−r
2
2 r̂12 E(r2 ) = 4π� |rq1−r |2 r̂12
1|
0 2 0 2 1
(1.15)
Energy Potential
U (r2 ) = − 4π�0q|r1 q22−r1 | ϕ(r2 ) = 4π�0 |rq12 −r1 |

• How are the force and field directed ?

• What are the values at r1 ?

• What is �0 , and what are its units ?

The force and field are directed along a line joining the two charges; the values would have equal magnitude but the
opposite direction. �0 is the permittivity of free space, and is 8.854 × 10−12 F m−1 where the units are C2 N−1 m−2 . This
value has been chosen, not measured.

• For a charge density ρ(r)

ρ(r)
∇ · E(r) = (1.16)
�0
• This can also be written for a collection of charges:
�
1 �
E · nda = qi (1.17)
�0 i

• The integral and differential forms are linked by the divergence theorem
� �
Gauss’ law is our first Maxwell equation. Note that i qi = V ρdv

1.2.3 Magnetostatics
• For an element of a current loop, dl, carrying current I at r� :

µ0 I dl × (r − r� )
dB(r) = (1.18)
4π |r − r� |3

• We can perform a loop integral: �

µ0 I dl × (r − r� )
B= 3 (1.19)
4π C |r − r� |

• We can show that B = ∇ × A, so ∇ · B = 0

• What is µ0 , and what are its units ?

Remember that the Biot-Savart law is empirical: there is no underlying theory stating that there are no magnetic monopoles
in the universe. But we haven’t found any yet ! The result derived from the Biot-Savart law is the second Maxwell equa-
tion.
µ0 is the permeability of free space, and is 4π×10−7 T m A−1 (which is equivalent to kilograms metres per coulomb2 ).

1.2.4 Electromagnetism
• For a surface S bounded by loop C, �
B · dl = µ0 I, (1.20)
c

• where I is the current passing through the surface S

�
• We can write I as S J · nda

• Using Stokes’ Theorem, we find:

∇ × B = µ0 J (1.21)

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PHAS3201: Electromagnetic Theory CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION

• This is incomplete

We will consider the detailed form of why Ampère’s law is incomplete later in the lectures, though you should already
have seen this and understood it at some level. This will form our third Maxwell equation when complete.

• If a conducting circuit, C, is intersected by a B field, then the flux is given by:

�
ΦC = B · nda (1.22)
S

• The EMF induced around the circuit is �

dΦ
E =− = E · dl (1.23)
dt C

• As before, we can use Stokes’ Theorem to derive:

dB
∇×E=− (1.24)
dt

The derivation is almost trivial: substitute Eq. (1.22) into Eq. (1.23), and then apply Stokes’ theorem to the loop
integral of E. This is the final Maxwell equation.

• Ampère’s law as described above is incomplete: it needs to account for time-varying electric fields

• When we do this, we can write (in a vacuum):

ρ
∇·E = (1.25)
�0
∇·B = 0 (1.26)
dE
∇×B = µ0 J + µ0 � 0 (1.27)
dt
dB
∇×E = − (1.28)
dt

• Force on a moving charge: F = q (E + v × B)

Once Maxwell’s equations and the Lorentz force law have been specified, classical electromagnetism is essentially
complete: the basic physics has not changed, though the details of the interaction of the fields with matter are still being
understood.

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 CHAPTER 2. MACROSCOPIC FIELDS

Chapter 2

Macroscopic Fields

2.1 Reminder of PHAS2201

We begin this section of the course by going over electrostatic concepts which should be very familiar from PHAS2201,
including Gauss’ law and the effect of dielectrics on capacitance.

2.1.1 Electrostatics
• We start with a single charge, q, at r� :

E(r) = q(r − r� )/(4π�0 |r − r� |3 ) (2.1)

�
• Taking a surface integral gives S
E.nda = q/�0

• Increasing the number of charges, and using the principle of superposition, we get:
� �
E.nda = ρdv/�0 (2.2)
S

• This leads directly to Gauss’ law: ∇ · E = ρ/�0

We will now go through a few worked examples on the use of Gauss’ Law.

2.1.2 Dielectrics
• Recall that capacitance is defined by Q = C∆V

• Capacitance changes when a dielectric is added:

Cdielectric = κCvacuum (2.3)

• A dielectric has no free charges: an insulator

• The polarisation is P = �0 χe E (and is defined as dipole moment per unit volume)

• This gives the susceptibility, χe

• The dielectric constant is κ = 1 + χe

Polarisation reflects the fact that the atoms which make up the dielectric consist of separate positive (nucleus) and
negative (electrons) charges. These respond differently to the electric field, leading to a shift in the overall charge distri-
bution of the dielectric, while keeping it neutral. We will consider the microscopic origin of polarisation in detail in next
section of the course.