Mediaspace scheduled maintenance: Aug 25, 2026 07:00 - 12:00 AM. During this time, videos will be temporarily unavailable. Check status updates.

Lecture

Electromagnetic Waves: Accelerated Charges

In course

PHYS-201(c): General physics : electromagnetism

Introduction à la mécanique des fluides, à l'électromagnétisme et aux phénomènes ondulatoires. ...

Description

This lecture discusses the behavior of electromagnetic fields created by accelerated charges, showing that for great distances the field varies inversely with the distance. It explores the power radiated by an oscillating electric dipole and the concept of radiation resistance. The lecture also covers synchrotron radiation and its applications.

This video is available exclusively on Mediaspace for a restricted audience. Please log in to MediaSpace to access it if you have the necessary permissions.

Watch on Mediaspace

Instructor

Giovanni Boero

Official source

Related concepts (32)

Synchrotron radiation

Synchrotron radiation (also known as magnetobremsstrahlung radiation) is the electromagnetic radiation emitted when relativistic charged particles are subject to an acceleration perpendicular to their velocity (a ⊥ v). It is produced artificially in some types of particle accelerators or naturally by fast electrons moving through magnetic fields. The radiation produced in this way has a characteristic polarization, and the frequencies generated can range over a large portion of the electromagnetic spectrum.

Synchrotron light source

A synchrotron light source is a source of electromagnetic radiation (EM) usually produced by a storage ring, for scientific and technical purposes. First observed in synchrotrons, synchrotron light is now produced by storage rings and other specialized particle accelerators, typically accelerating electrons. Once the high-energy electron beam has been generated, it is directed into auxiliary components such as bending magnets and insertion devices (undulators or wigglers) in storage rings and free electron lasers.

Synchrotron

A synchrotron is a particular type of cyclic particle accelerator, descended from the cyclotron, in which the accelerating particle beam travels around a fixed closed-loop path. The magnetic field which bends the particle beam into its closed path increases with time during the accelerating process, being synchronized to the increasing kinetic energy of the particles. The synchrotron is one of the first accelerator concepts to enable the construction of large-scale facilities, since bending, beam focusing and acceleration can be separated into different components.

Electromagnetic field

An electromagnetic field (also EM field or EMF) is a classical (i.e. non-quantum) field produced by moving electric charges. It is the field described by classical electrodynamics (a classical field theory) and is the classical counterpart to the quantized electromagnetic field tensor in quantum electrodynamics (a quantum field theory). The electromagnetic field propagates at the speed of light (in fact, this field can be identified as light) and interacts with charges and currents.

Electromagnetic tensor

In electromagnetism, the electromagnetic tensor or electromagnetic field tensor (sometimes called the field strength tensor, Faraday tensor or Maxwell bivector) is a mathematical object that describes the electromagnetic field in spacetime. The field tensor was first used after the four-dimensional tensor formulation of special relativity was introduced by Hermann Minkowski. The tensor allows related physical laws to be written very concisely, and allows for the quantization of the electromagnetic field by Lagrangian formulation described below.

Related lectures (31)

Synchrotron Radiation

Covers the properties of synchrotron radiation, including its emission by relativistic particles and its effect on the beam through radiation damping.

Interactions of X-rays with Matter: Introductory Comments and Insights

Explores the response of a free electron to incident electromagnetic radiation and how synchrotrons produce X-rays.

Continuum Emissions: Magnetobremsstrahlung and Synchrotron Radiation MOOC: The Radio Sky I: Science and Observations

Explores magnetobremsstrahlung emission and synchrotron radiation in continuum emissions in the Radio Universe.

Quantum Field Theory II: EM Field and Particle States

Covers the EM field and particle states in quantum field theory.

Radiation Sources: Overview