Classical Electricity and Magnetism - (Dover Books on Physics) 2nd Edition by Wolfgang Kurt Hermann Panofsky & Melba Phillips (Paperback)

About the Book

Compact and precise coverage of the electrostatic field in vacuum; general methods for solution of potential problems; radiation reaction and covariant formulation of conservation laws of electrodynamics; much more. 1962 edition.

Book Synopsis

Compact, clear, and precise in its presentation, this distinguished, widely used textbook offers graduate students and advanced undergraduates a diverse and well-balanced selection of topics.
Subjects include the electrostatic field in vacuum; boundary conditions and relation of microscopic to macroscopic fields; general methods for the solution of potential problems, including those of two and three dimensions; energy relations and forces in the electrostatic field; steady currents and their interaction; magnet materials and boundary value problems; and Maxwell's equations. Additional topics include energy, force, and momentum relations in the electromagnetic field; the wave equation and plane waves; conducting fluids in a magnetic field; waves in the presence of metallic boundaries; the inhomogeneous wave equation; the experimental basis for the theory of special relativity; relativistic kinematics and the Lorentz transformation; covariance and relativistic mechanics; covariant formulation of electrodynamics; and the Liénard-Wiechert potentials and the field of a uniformly moving electron.
The text concludes with examinations of radiation from an accelerated charge; radiation reaction and covariant formulation of the conservation laws of electrodynamics; radiation, scattering, and dispersion; the motion of charged particles in electromagnetic fields; and Hamiltonian formulation of Maxwell's equations.