Classical Electrodynamics : A Modern Perspective This book addresses the theoretical foundations and the main physical consequences of electromagnetic interaction generally considered to be one of the four fundamental interactions in nature in a mathematically rigorous yet straightforward way. The major focus is on the unifying features shared by classical electrodynamics and all other fundamental relativistic classical field theories. The book presents a balanced blend of derivations of phenomenological predictions from first principles on the one hand and concrete applications on the other. Further it highlights the internal inconsistencies of classical electrodynamics and addresses and resolves often ignored critical issues such as the dynamics of massless charged particles the infinite energy of the electromagnetic field and the limits of the Green’s function method. Presenting a rich multilayered and critical exposition on the electromagnetic paradigm underlying the whole Universe the book offers a valuable resource for researchers and graduate students in theoretical physics alike Part I: THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS 1 Foundations of special relativity 2 Fundamental equations of electrodynamics 3 Variational methods in field theory 4 The variational principle in electrodynamics Part II: APPLICATIONS 5 Electromagnetic waves 6 Generation of electromagnetic fields 7 Lienard Wiechert fields 8 Radiation 9 Gravitational radiation 10 Radiation in the ultrarelativistic limit 11 Spectral analysis 12 Synchrotron radiation 13 The Cerenkov effect Part III: SELECTED TOPICS 14 Radiation reaction 15 A distribution valued energy momentum tensor 16 Charged particles traveling at the speed of light 17 Massive vector fields 18 Electrodynamics of p branes 19 Magnetic monopoles in classical electrodynamics 20 Magnetic monopoles in quantum mechanics References INDEX