Lecture Description
Professor Susskind elaborates on the four fundamental principles that apply to all physical laws. He then reviews the derivation of the Lorentz force law as an example of the application of these principles. The lecture closes with an introduction to gauge invariance.
Topics: Stationary action; Locality; Lorentz invariance; Gauge invariance; Review of the derivation of the Lorentz force law.
Course Index
- The Lorentz Transform
- Adding Velocities
- Relativistic Laws of Motion and E = mc2
- Classical Field Theory
- Particles and Fields
- The Lorentz Force Law
- The Fundamental Principles of Physical Laws
- Maxwell's Equations
- Lagrangian for Maxwell's Equations
- Connection Between Classical Mechanics and Field Theory
Course Description
In 1905, while only twenty-six years old, Albert Einstein published "On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies" and effectively extended classical laws of relativity to all laws of physics, even electrodynamics. In this course, we will take a close look at the special theory of relativity and also at classical field theory. Concepts addressed here will include four-dimensional space-time, electromagnetic fields, and Maxwell's equations.