After having successfully followed the course, students must be able to independently solve a large class of problems related to electromagnetism and optics, and must have learned and internalized the conceptual foundations and the main experimental results related to the historical development of electromagnetism.

Frontal teaching accompanied by numerous exercises held by the teacher

Physics I

Strongly recommended but NOT mandatory

ELECTROSTATICS
1.1 - Electrostatic force. Electrostatic field.
The composition of matter and the presence of electrical interactions between its charged constituents. Quantization and conservation of the electric charge. Insulating and conducting materials. Electrifying processes. Force between electric charges. Coulomb's law. The electrostatic field. Calculation of electrostatic fields for discrete and continuous distributions. The lines of force. Motion of a charge in an electrostatic field. Millikan experience.
1.2 - Electrical work. Electrostatic potential.
The work of the electric force. The electrical voltage between two points. The electromotive force of the electric field. The electrostatic potential. The electrostatic potential energy. Calculation of the potential and electrostatic potential energy for a point charge and for discrete and continuous charge distributions. Potential energy of a system of charges. Motion of a charge in an electrostatic field. The electrostatic field as a gradient of the potential. Calculation of electrostatic fields from the potential for continuous charge distributions. The rotor of the electric field. Equipotential surfaces. Electric field and potential generated by a dipole. Motion of a dipole in a uniform electric field. Potential energy of a dipole placed in a field.
1.3 - Gauss's law.
Flux of the electrostatic field vector. Proof of Gauss's theorem. Applications of Gauss's theorem: spherical shell, sphere, wire and plane uniformly charged. Gauss law in local form: Poisson and Laplace equations.
1.4 - Conductors. Dielectrics. Electrostatic energy.
Conductors in equilibrium. Electrostatic induction. Hollow conductor. Electrostatic screen. Capacitors in a vacuum. Connection of capacitors. Electrostatic energy. Dielectrics. Relative, absolute dielectric constant, electrical susceptibility. Polarization of dielectrics. Definition of the vector D (dielectric induction). Gauss and Poisson's law in dielectrics.
STATIONARY CURRENTS AND MAGNETOSTATIC FIELDS
2.1 - Electricity.
Electric conduction. Average current, instantaneous current, current density. Ohm's law for ohmic conductors. Conductivity and resistivity. Classic model of management. Electrical resistance. Dependence on temperature. Superconductors. Electricity and absorbed power. EMF generators Resistors in series and in parallel. Kirchhoff's laws. Charge and discharge of an RC circuit.
2.2 - Magnetic field.
Properties of magnets. Magnetic field. Lorentz force. Magnetic force on a current-carrying wire: Laplace's second elementary law. Torque acting on a current-carrying coil immersed in a uniform magnetic field. Magnetic moment of a coil traversed by a stationary current. Hall effect. Motion of a particle in a uniform magnetic field.
2.3 - Sources of the magnetic field. Ampère's law. Magnetic properties of matter.
Magnetic field produced by an element of current - Laplace's first elementary law. Magnetic permeability of vacuum. Ampère-Laplace law for the magnetic field generated by a closed circuit carried by current. Magnetic field produced by a straight wire (Biot-Savart law), by a circular coil, by an ideal solenoid. Forces acting on parallel wires carried by current. Ampère's law. Gauss's law for the magnetic field. Displacement current. Ampère-Maxwell's law. Magnetic properties of matter. Permeability and magnetic susceptibility. Mechanisms of magnetization and amperian currents.
CURRENTS AND VARIABLE FIELDS
3.1 - Electric and magnetic fields varying over time.
Faraday's law. Lenz's law. Current generators. Foucault currents. Self-induction. RL circuits. Magnetic energy. Magnetic energy density. Mutual induction. Maxwell's equations.
3.2 - Electric oscillations. Alternating currents.
Electric oscillations. Ideal LC circuit. Discharge of a capacitor in an inductive loop. Behavior of resistors, capacitors and inductors in AC. Reactance and impedance. RLC circuits in AC. Resonance. AC power. Power factor. Merit factor of an RLC circuit. Ideal transformer.
ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVES
4.1 - Electromagnetic waves.
Plane electromagnetic waves. Harmonic plane electromagnetic waves. Linear, circular and elliptical polarization. Poynting vector. Intensity of an e.m. wave Radiation pressure. Electromagnetic spectrum. Spherical waves.
ELEMENTS OF OPTICS
5.1 - Reflection and refraction of light and geometric optics
Measurements of the speed of light. Refractive index. Reflection and refraction. Limiting angle. Total reflection. Chromatic dispersion. Brewster's law and Polarization. Construction of images in geometric optics. Spherical and flat mirrors. Focal distance. Magnification. Spherical and flat dioptres. Dioptric power. Front and rear focal distances. Magnification. Thin lenses. Convergent power. Focal distance. Lens constructor equation.

1 - R. A. Serway, Physics, Saunders
2 - D. Halliday, R. Resnick, K.S. Krane, Physics, 2nd vol., J. Wiley & Sons

3 - F.W. Sears, M.W. Zemansky, University Physics, vol II,  Pearson

4 - R. Blum, D. Roller, Physics, Vol II, Holton Bay

The exam consists of a written examination followed by an oral test. The written test (duration 2 hours) consists in the resolution, justified and clearly commented, of four exercises. Students who pass the written test (minimum score: 15/30) can take the subsequent oral test which consists, starting from a discussion of the written examination, in the discussion of the topics in the program.

Gauss's law - examples of electrostatic effects due to the 1 / r2 dependence of the field - capacitance of a conductor - examples of capacitance calculation - definition of electrostatic potential energy - rotor and divergence theorems (without proof) - properties of operators differential - polarization mechanisms - dipoles in external fields - analogies between electric and magnetic dipoles - Ohm's laws - Kirchhoff's laws - RC circuits - Biot Savart's law - magnetic field calculations - Ampere's law - displacement current - Faraday's law - self-induction and RL circuits - mutual induction - AC circuits: resolutions of RLC circuits with phasor and symbolic method - Poynting vector - radiation pressure - c measurements - Snell's laws - construction of optical images for a mirror and a lens .