Authorised by Academic Registrar, April 1996
Objectives The student is expected to develop an understanding of Maxwell's equations, constitutive relations and interface/boundary conditions as the basis of macroscopic electromagnetic theory. The student should acquire skills in analysing vector fields and polarised waves arising in lumped circuits, transmission lines, plane interfaces, optical waveguides, antennas and cylindrical metallic waveguides.
Synopsis Maxwell's equations and constitutive relations, scalar and vector potential functions, interface/boundary conditions. Relation between field theory and circuit theory. Partial capacitances and mutual inductances. Time-harmonic fields and wave propagation, Poynting's theorem. Plane waves: polarisation concepts, reflection and refraction at plane interfaces, propagation through lossy media. Optical waveguides: overview of guided-wave optics, fibres and planar structures, attenuation and dispersion, nonlinear effects, sources and detectors. Antennas and propagation: overview of antennas, fields of an infinitesimal dipole, wave propagation in the ionosphere. Cylindrical metallic waveguides: overview of microwave techniques, rectangular waveguides.
Assessment Examination (3 hours): 85% + Laboratory work: 15%