Electrodynamics based on Maxwell equations (Bachelor level)

This course is for everyone who wants to learn about theoretical electrodynamics!

A bit of college mathematics (basic derivatives and vector algebra) is all you need to know!

Several concepts of electrodynamics like charges, electromagnetic waves, electric & magnetic fields are taught already in highschool. However, it is not really possible to understand their true origin. For that purpose Maxwell formulated 4 equations based on which we can explain most phenomena of modern electrodynamics: electrostatics, magnetostatics, as well as time-dependent problems and light as an electromagnetic wave.

However, I think that this theoretical approach is often taught either too vague or with a too strong focus on the mathematics. Instead of watching random Youtube videos or going through hundred of hours of university courses, I think that Udemy courses are a nice platform for purposeful learning.

You are kindly invited to join this carefully prepared course that will teach you the 101 of electrodynamics and includes quizzes, slides, exercises, as well as a tutorial on the mathematical prerequisites!

Why me?

My name is Börge Göbel  and I am a postdoc working as a scientist on electrodynamics and quantum theory. I am currently doing research on the emergent electrodynamics of special magnetic textures. I have not forgotten the time when I learned about electrodynamics and still remember the problems that I and other students had. I have refined my advisor skills as a tutor of Bachelor, Master and PhD students in theoretical physics.

“Dr. Göbel produces excellent courses with lessons that provide both technical depth and great material and audio/visual production. The math review in this course was an excellent math review on its own.“ - Eddi Girolamo

This course is for you ...

• ... if you are about to attend a university course on electrodynamics and want to be well prepared

• ... or if you want to go through a theoretical physics course without having to deal with the hardcore mathematics of other topics

• ... or if you have a general idea about charges, electromagnetic waves, magnetic & electric fields but want to know their true origin

• ... or if you simply want to have a carefully condensed refresher before your exams :-)

The topics

We will start with the mathematical prerequisites and the early physical phenomena that have led to our modern understanding of electrodynamics. For example, we learn about complex numbers, the nabla operator, charges, magnetic moments, as well as the electric and magnetic fields. Then, we will introduce the Maxwell's equations. These four equations are the basis of this whole course and allow to derive all of the phenomena that we discuss, like the Ampère's law, the Coulomb's law and the Biot-Savart's law.

We start with the special case of vacuum where charges and currents are absent: Here, the excitations are electromagnetic waves or, in other words, light. We derive the electric and magnetic fields and discuss the possible polarizations of light.
Thereafter, we leave vacuum but consider time-independent problems. This field of theoretical physics is called electrostatics and magnetostatics. We solve interesting problems like calculating the electric field of a charged sphere, the voltage difference in a capacitor, the magnetic field around a wire or the far-field of a dipole.

Finally, we consider the most general case: time-dependent problems. As we will see, we can rely on our previous results from the static case with a few modifications. Also, I will show you how all of our results only slightly change, when we consider the electrodynamics in matter, like in a piece of metal.

I hope you are excited and I kindly welcome you to our course!