Description

The oscillations between an electric field and a magnetic field produce waves known as electromagnetic waves, or EM waves. In other words, magnetic and electric fields oscillate to form electromagnetic (EM) waves. These two are sometimes referred to as the sources of the field since they produce the magnetic field with moving charges (currents) and the electric field with stationary charges, respectively. The Lorentz force law and Maxwell's equations both describe how charges and currents interact with the electromagnetic field. The electromagnetic field can be viewed from a classical perspective as a smooth, continuous field that spreads in a wavelike fashion, while from the perspective of quantum field theory, the field is seen as quantised and made up of individual particles. This book takes a basic approach by outlining theoretical ideas and providing several examples that have been worked out to illustrate them. Vector calculus, the crucial mathematical tool for analysis in electromagnetic theory, is reviewed before the discussions get started.