An Introduction to Electromagnetism

Manuela Mura and Fabien Paillusson’s An Introduction to Electromagnetism is an accessible undergraduate text on the subject, incorporating elements of electromagnetism and electrodynamics, thoroughly delving into foundational concepts while highlighting important lessons. The book opens with an introductory section on exterior calculus and its applications in electromagnetism, which introduces increasingly popular mathematical tools at the heart of most vector calculus theorems. The book delves into detailed sections on electrostatics and magnetostatics satisfying Curie’s principle and exploring how to use symmetry plane(s) of the charge and current distributions to facilitate problem-solving; explains Earnshaw’s electrostatic and magnetostatic instability theorems; and dedicates a section to the Bohr-van Leewen theorem on the impossibility of a non-zero classical magnetic susceptibility. The book further makes the case that electromagnetism can be more naturally expressed in terms of differential forms, and overall aims to make this novel geometric approach more accessible to a wider audience. An Introduction to Electromagnetism dives into fundamental topics in electromagnetism, based on the authors’ own teaching experience with this material in dedicated courses for undergraduate Physics students. The book has a unique and specialized focus on topics such as a discussion on the incompleteness of Maxwell’s equations; a dissection of Purcell’s thought experiment on the magnetic force from a current-carrying wire onto a free charge; and a review of the interpretation of dipole and multipole moments and how their properties contribute to the electric and magnetic phenomena. This helpful first edition delivers detailed explanations, illustrative examples, and beneficial in-text exercises and solutions to discuss the role and importance of electromagnetism, and is ideal for courses in physics, physical sciences, and related fields.