What best book for Electrodynamics/electromagnetics?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion centers around recommendations for advanced textbooks on electrodynamics and electromagnetism suitable for a master's level study. Participants express specific topics of interest that should be covered in the suggested books.

Discussion Character

  • Debate/contested
  • Technical explanation

Main Points Raised

  • One participant requests a master's level book on electrodynamics, specifying a comprehensive list of topics to be included.
  • Another participant suggests several classic texts, including "Feynman Lectures, vol. II" and "Jackson, Classical Electrodynamics," noting their longstanding reputation.
  • A different participant expresses a preference for "Landau, Lifshitz, Course of Theoretical Physics, Vol. II," highlighting its treatment of electromagnetism as a relativistic theory from the outset.
  • Additional recommendations include "Schwinger, Classical Electrodynamics" and "Schwartz, Principles of Electrodynamics."
  • One participant points to a specific book available on Amazon, claiming it is easier to follow than Jackson and covers all requested topics adequately.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants present multiple competing views on the best textbooks for the subject, with no consensus reached on a single recommendation.

Contextual Notes

Participants have not resolved which book best meets the specified criteria, and there may be variations in availability and pricing depending on location.

Prins
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Need a book to completely revise ED. Book not be of beginner level. Must be of Masters level. Thanks
Attaching a list of topics that needs to be there in it.

Electrostatics: Gauss’s law and its applications, Laplace and Poisson equations, boundary value problems. Magnetostatics: Biot-Savart law, Ampere's theorem. Electromagnetic induction. Maxwell's equations in free space and linear isotropic media; boundary conditions on the fields at interfaces. Scalar and vector potentials, gauge invariance. Electromagnetic waves in free space. Dielectrics and conductors. Reflection and refraction, polarization, Fresnel’s law, interference, coherence, and diffraction. Dynamics of charged particles in static and uniform electromagnetic fields.Dispersion relations in plasma. Lorentz invariance of Maxwell’s equation. Transmission lines and wave guides. Radiation- from moving charges and dipoles and retarded potentials.
 
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The alltime classics are of course

Feynman Lectures, vol. II
Jackson, Classical Electrodynamics

Of all the standard books, I like best

Landau, Lifshitz, Course of Theoretical Physics, Vol. II (Classical Theory of Fields)

because it treats electromagnetism as a relativistic theory from the very beginning as it should be. Other very good books are also

Schwinger, Classical Electrodynamics
Schwartz, Principles of Electrodynamics
 
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