Classical electrodynamics for high-energy physicists

[Demystifier]

I've just found a recent very interesting and very modern textbook on classical electrodynamics. It starts with special relativity (rather than electrostatics) and contains a lot of high-energy topics, including renormalization (within classical realm), massive vector fields, gravitational radiation, electrodynamics of p-branes and magnetic monopoles.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/3319918087/?tag=pfamazon01-20

 

[shjacks45]

Magnetic monopoles was big news in the 1970s. I always trust books that discuss the reality of empirically unfounded theories. What else is the book incorrect about?

 

[vanhees71]

Well, theory can also discuss some hypothetical things, like in whether electrodynamics still works, including magnetic monopoles. Is it turns out one can, and as Dirac has shown it interestingly can explain the discreteness of the (Abelian-gauge symmetry) electric charge as a necessity. There's no so strong other argument for the discreteness of electric charge. That's why it's interesting. Of course, today nobody has ever seen an elementary magnetic monopole. The condensed-matter physicists have some quasiparticles of this kind in exotic materials called spin ice.