L D Landau - Course of Theoretical Physics, Volume 2

Books

Other titles in the COURSE OF THEORETICAL PHYSICS by LANDAU and LIFSHITZ

BOWLER

Lectures on Special Relativity

COULSON & RICHARDSON

Chemical Engineering

HAMMOND

Electromagnetism for Engineers, 3rd Edition

LOGUNOV

Lectures in Relativity and Gravitation

MIYA

Applied Electromagnetics

Journals

Acta Metallurgica et Materialia

Chemical Engineering Science

Journal of Atmospheric and Terrestrial Physics

Journal of Physics and Chemistry of Solids

Journal of the Mathematics and Physics of Solids

Planetary and Space Science

Progress in Materials Science

Progress in Quantum Electronics

Solid State Communications

Scripta Metallurgica et Materialia

Full details of all Elsevier publications/free specimen copy of any Elsevier journal available on request from your nearest Elsevier office.

Copyright 1975 Pergamon Press plc

All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means: electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without permission in writing from the publishers.

First English edition 1951

Second English edition 1962

Third English edition 1971

Fourth English edition 1975

Reprinted (with corrections), 1979

Reprinted 1979, 1980, 1983, 1985

Reprinted (with corrections), 1987, 1989, 1994

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

Landau, Lev Davidovich, 19081968.

The classical theory of fields.

(Course of theoretical physics; v.2)

Translated from the 6th rev. cd. of Teorii poli.

Includes bibliographical references.

1. Electromagnetic fields. 2. Field theory

(Physics) I. Lifshitz, Evgenii Mikhailovich, joint author.

II. Title

QXC665.E4L3713 1975 530.14 754737

ISBN 0080181767 (Hardcover)

ISBN 0080250726 (Flexicover)

Translated from the 6th revised edition of Teoriya Pola,

Nauka, Moscow, 1973

Printed in the United Kingdom by BPC Wheatons

This book is devoted to the presentation of the theory of the electromagnetic and gravitational fields, i.e. electrodynamics and general relativity. A complete, logically connected theory of the electromagnetic field includes the special theory of relativity, so the latter has been taken as the basis of the presentation. As the starting point of the derivation of the fundamental relations we take the variational principles, which make possible the attainment of maximum generality, unity and simplicity of presentation.

In accordance with the overall plan of our Course of Theoretical Physics (of which this book is a part), we have not considered questions concerning the electrodynamics of continuous media, but restricted the discussion to microscopic electrodynamicsthe electrodynamics of point charges in vacuo.

The reader is assumed to be familiar with electromagnetic phenomena as discussed in general physics courses. A knowledge of vector analysis is also necessary. The reader is not assumed to have any previous knowledge of tensor analysis, which is presented in parallel with the development of the theory of gravitational fields.

Moscow, December 1939

Moscow, June 1947

L. LANDAU and E. LIFSHITZ

The first edition of this book appeared more than thirty years ago. In the course of reissues over these decades the book has been revised and expanded; its volume has almost doubled since the first edition. But at no time has there been any need to change the method proposed by Landau for developing the theory, or his style of presentation, whose main feature was a striving for clarity and simplicity. I have made every effort to preserve this style in the revisions that I have had to make on my own.

As compared with the preceding edition, the first nine chapters, devoted to electrodynamics, have remained almost without changes. The chapters concerning the theory of the gravitational field have been revised and expanded. The material in these chapters has increased from edition to edition, and it was finally necessary to redistribute and rearrange it.

I should like to express here my deep gratitude to all of my helpers in this worktoo many to be enumeratedwho, by their comments and advice, helped me to eliminate errors and introduce improvements. Without their advice, without the willingness to help which has met all my requests, the work to continue the editions of this course would have been much more difficult. A special debt of gratitude is due to L. P. Pitaevskii, with whom I have constantly discussed all the vexing questions.

The English translation of the book was done from the last Russian edition, which appeared in 1973. No further changes in the book have been made. The 1994 corrected reprint includes the changes made by E. M. Lifshitz in the Seventh Russian Edition published in 1987.

I should also like to use this occasion to sincerely thank Prof. Hamermesh, who has translated this book in all its editions, starting with the first English edition in 1951. The success of this book among English-speaking readers is to a large extent the result of his labor and careful attention.

E.M. LIFSHITZ