Author Description

This book is a text for the study of the classical (i.e. nonquantum) theory of charged particles. The application of the theory is well known in electron optics, particle accelerators, radiation from electron beams, and other fields. But the fundamentals of it are usually hidden in a cloud of uncertainty and confusion. In view of the importance of its applications, such a situation is highly unsatisfactory. The text is designed to teach primarily these fundamental aspects of the theory, while applications are restricted to the illustrations of points of principle....The interested reader will soon find that this is an unusual book in several respects. It cuts across many disciplines of theoretical physics which are ordinarily neatly separated and treated in different books: classical mechanics, electrodynamics, special relativity and general relativity, not to mention a little history and philosophy. It is unusual also in that it deals with elementary notions from an advanced point of view and with deeper questions usually left for ”high-brow” treatments.