Fall 2026

Theoretical Physics-electrodynamics

A graduate course covering advanced electrodynamics, including Maxwell's equations, wave propagation, and relativistic electrodynamics.

offering recorded3 credits
Recorded instructors · Fall 2026 Paul Terry3.5/5

Summary

1 / 6

Historical reviews of Jeffrey Schmidt: Reviewers note that Jackson E&M is tough and assigns a lot of problems per week.

Grade history

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average GPA
letter grades
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AB
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Prerequisites

Course map

Graduate/professional standing

  • Graduate/professional standing
PHYSICS 721

This is a best-effort interpretation; check the catalog requirements above.

Prerequisite text tree
  • Graduate/professional standing

Professors

Fall 2026

Paul Terry

/5Adjusted rating
/5RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 3.31/5 from 26 quality ratings. The adjusted rating blends this with the UW review average (3.66/5), weighted as 20 additional ratings. Smaller samples stay closer to that average. Each captured review is counted once in the prior; this does not correct who chooses to leave a review.

RMP profile ↗ · All captured review dates; profile matched by name.

Recent recorded grades — Fall 2006: 3.40 GPA, 62.5% A/AB (n=24 letter grades); Spring 2022: 3.50 GPA, 72.7% A/AB (n=11 letter grades).

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

Historical reviews for Jeffrey Schmidt describe him as an engaging lecturer who explains advanced math well and assigns challenging problem sets. Reviewers note his enthusiasm and helpfulness in office hours, though the course material is considered tough.

JEFFREY SCHMIDT is recorded teaching in Spring 2015, Spring 2020, Fall 2025. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

PAUL TERRY is recorded teaching in Fall 2006, Spring 2022. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

Calendar & sections

Fall 2026

Schedule loads here as you scroll.

SectionModeEnrolled / capacityWaitlist
LEC 001Classroom Instruction38 / 420

Times are Central. Select a meeting for details; export includes recorded dates for the selected sections. Enrollment reflects scan time.

Meeting source records
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Student experience

the class

Historical reviews for Jeffrey Schmidt describe an engaging and fascinating lecturer who explains advanced math well, despite the course being tough with a heavy problem load.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2025: 3.75 GPA, 86.4% A/AB (n=22 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.77 GPA, 86.4% A/AB (n=22 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.33 GPA, 60.0% A/AB (n=15 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

Historical reviews of Jeffrey Schmidt: Reviewers note that Jackson E&M is tough and assigns a lot of problems per week.

Historical reviews of Jeffrey Schmidt: Students found the instructor super helpful in office hours and appreciated that he did homework problems in class.

Topics

  • Electrostatics and magnetostatics with Green functions.
  • Maxwell's equations in macroscopic media and conservation laws.
  • Electromagnetic waves, propagation, dispersion, and waveguides.
  • Multipole expansions, diffraction, and scattering.
  • Special relativity, covariance, and radiation by accelerated charges.

Skills

  • Solving boundary value problems using Green functions.
  • Applying Maxwell's equations and stress tensors to conservation laws.
  • Analyzing wave propagation, dispersion, and radiation in various media.
  • Demonstrating the covariance of Maxwell's equations under special relativity.

Grades

Latest available · Spring 2026— not enough history to project Fall 2026.

average GPA
A / AB grades
letter grades
Instructor

Grade distribution · % of letter grades

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AB
B
BC
C
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Grades over time

Through Spring 2026

More grade details Grade mix, volume & source data

Not enough comparable courses for Fall 2026 in UW–Madison.

Sources & history

UW–Madison

Catalog & offerings

Descriptions, prerequisites, and recorded course offerings.

Catalog observation history

Observations at scan time; dates do not imply when a catalog change took effect.

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Selected offering source records
PHYSICS 721 · Fall 2026

Theoretical Physics-Electrodynamics

Recorded 2026-09-07
Raw records
[
  {
    "run_id": "20260907T155543-ce3781c4",
    "semester": "1272",
    "observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00",
    "offering_id": "1272:754:015672",
    "course_id": "PHYSICS 721",
    "course_uid": "course_3cd96617fa9bcb858e3cd214",
    "term_id": "1272",
    "source_course_id": "015672",
    "source_subject_id": "754",
    "title": "Theoretical Physics-Electrodynamics",
    "credits_min": 3,
    "credits_max": 3,
    "typically_offered": "Fall, Spring"
  }
]
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Student reviews

Original comments behind the course and instructor summaries.

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Madgrades

Grade history

Recorded grade distributions by term, section, and instructor.

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Dataset & model

Recorded 2026-09-07

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Model outputs & technical records
nvidia/Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-NVFP4
LLM outputs across runs
Download part 1
Full model traces

Recorded model configuration, reasoning, and tool conversations.

Download part 1
Model & dataset provenance
{
  "model": "nvidia/Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-NVFP4",
  "model_revision": "1355db6a052410cfd62085d94b58866fd0f2c3c5",
  "task_version": "14",
  "output_id": "40b980ffd69fc8bd699b8602e3385d2a4f15641ee6c34aecd88af16a2338d616",
  "requirements_status": "valid",
  "dataset_revision": "e243353dcb7d79b7247ced91d69443ef4c2a6349",
  "observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00"
}