Course Syllabus

Phys/Elec 312: Advanced Electromagnetism

Koç University, Spring 2022

Instructor: Ali Mostafazadeh (Office: Sci.154; Tuesdays 17:20-18:50 & Thursdays 17:20-17:50)

Textbook: “Introduction to Electrodynamics,” D. J. Griffiths, 4th Edition (Pearson, 2013)

Website: http://portal.ku.edu.tr/~amostafazadeh/Phys312/Phys312_2022S/phys312.htm

Topics to be covered: Maxwell's equations; conservation laws; electromagnetic waves in vacuum and dielectric media; waveguides; electromagnetic potentials and fields; radiation theory; electrodynamics and special theory of relativity

Objective: This is the second part of a two-semester upper-level undergraduate course in classical electrodynamics. Its principal aim is to provide the student with a working knowledge of classical electrodynamics and its basic applications. It also offers a brief introduction to the special theory of relativity.

Evaluation method: Students’ progress will be evaluated according to their performance in homework assignments (15%), two midterm exams (25% each), and a final exam (35%). If a student fails the course and takes the remedial exam, his/her grade in this exam will be substituted for his/her grade in the final exam and his/her letter grade will be determined accordingly.

Eligibility to take the final exam: In order to become eligible to take the final exam, a student must not miss more than 10 of the lectures, must take at least one of the midterm exams, and his/her average grade in these exams must not be below 30 out of 100.

Attendance & Bonus: Students who do not attend more than 10 of the lectures (for any reason) will not be eligible to take the final exam and fail the course. If a student misses n lectures and n<10, 10-n bonus points will be added to his/her final exam grade.

Auditing Students: In order to get an AU, a student must attend at least 20 of the lectures.

Policy for Homework Assignments: Homework papers should be uploaded to Blackboard before the due time. Late homework papers will not be accepted. To reduce the workload of the course’s teaching assistant not all the homework problems will be graded. If the assistant decides that a solution to a homework problem has been copied from a solution manual or is someone else’s work, the student will receive a zero in that homework assignment. The students who object to this decision will be invited to record a video problem session in which they solve all the problems in that homework set. The student’s grade in this homework set will then be decided by the TA based on his/her performance in this problem session.

Make-ups & Remedial Exams: If a student misses a midterm exam and has a valid excuse, his (her) grade in the final exam will be substituted for the grade in the missed midterm exam(s). If (s)he also misses the final exam, (s)he will be given zero in the midterm exam(s) that (s)he has missed regardless of whether (s)he has a valid excuse or not. If a student misses the final exam and has a valid excuse, (s)he will be given a make-up exam. Students who fail the course but have a chance of passing it by taking the remedial exam will be allowed to take this exam.

Rules for online education: The lectures will be pre-recorded and made available online as videos. The electronic files of these video lectures and their content must not be made available to third parties; students are not permitted to share any part of these videos in the social media platforms or post them in the internet.

Suggested Method of Study: Students are advised to study the subjects covered in class immediately after the lectures. Reading the lecture notes and the book is necessary for grasping the subject, but it is by no means sufficient. Students must try to reproduce the derivations of the results covered in class on their own. They are expected to spend an average of three hours per week on studying the material covered in class in addition to the time spent on homework assignments.