Physics Department

David J. Griffiths David Griffiths

Emeritus Professor of Physics
Knowlton Laboratory of Physics 26
(503) 777-7252
griffith@reed.edu

Education

  • Ph. D. Physics 1970 Harvard University
  • M. A. Physics 1966 Harvard University
  • B. A. Physics 1964 Harvard University

Dissertation

  • "Covariant Approach to Massless Field Theory in the Radiation Gauge" (advisor: Sidney Coleman)

Post-Doctoral positions

  • 1970-72 University of Utah
  • 1972-74 University of Massachusetts, Amherst

Employment

  • 1974 Hampshire College, Amherst, MA
  • 1974-77 Mt. Holyoke College, South Hadley, MA
  • 1977-78 Trinity College, Hartford, CT
  • 1978-2009 Reed College, Portland, OR
  • 2001-02 On leave at Mt. Holyoke, UMass (fall); Amherst, Smith (spring).
  • 2007 (spring) Visiting Professor, Stanford University.

Research interests

  • Classical Electrodynamics
  • Quantum Mechanics
  • Elementary Particle Theory

Selected recent student thesis titles

  • 2016, Naomi Gendler, “Dark Matter Corrections to the Anomalous Magnetic Moment of the Muon”
  • 2013, Christina Porter, “Der Kugelblitz! Laboratory Ball Lightning via Electrical Arcing through Silicon”
  • 2009, Robin Bjorkquist, "Hidden Momentum"
  • 2006, Kevin Connolly, "Quantum Mechanics of the Electric Dipole Potential"
  • 2004, Moira Gresham, "Two-Dimensional Radial Laplacian Growth"

Selected recent publications

Books

"Introduction to Electrodynamics, 3rd ed.", Addison Wesley, 1999.

"Introduction to Electrodynamics, 4th ed.", Pearson, 2013.

“Introduction to Electrodynamics, 4th ed.”, Cambridge University Press, 2017.

  • Errata
    • ED4c, August 20, 2018.
    • ED4d, January 14, 2020.
    • Corrections to the ISM are incorporated into the current electronic version.
  • Is Current a Vector?

"Introduction to Quantum Mechanics, 2nd ed.", Addison Wesley, 2004.

  • Errata
    • QM2a, September 14, 2009.
    • QM2b, January 18, 2013.
    • QM2c, August 1, 2014.
    • QM2ISM, August 1, 2014.
    • QM2d, December 1, 2015.
    • QM2ISMb, December 1, 2015.

“Introduction to Quantum Mechanics, 3rd ed.” (with Darrell Schroeter), Cambridge University Press, 2018.

  • Errata
    • QM3ErrA , January 15, 2019.
    • QM3ErrB, May 31, 2019.
    • QM3ErrC, January 14, 2020.
    • QM3ErrD, June 8, 2020.
    • QM3ErrE, October 26, 2023.
    • Corrections to the ISM are incorporated into the current electronic version.

"Introduction to Elementary Particles, 2nd ed.", Wiley-VCH, 2008.

  • Errata
    • EP2a, September 17, 2009.
    • EP2b, January 21, 2013.
    • EP2c, March 19, 2014.
    • EP2d, January 31, 2020.
    • Corrections to the ISM have been incorporated into the current electronic version.

"Revolutions in Twentieth-Century Physics", Cambridge, 2013.

  • Errata
    • Rev1, September 4, 2013.

Professional activities

  • Committee of Examiners, Graduate Record Examination in Physics (1994-2000).
  • Book Review Editor, American Journal of Physics (1996-2003).
  • Editorial Board, Physical Review E (1998-2004).
  • Editorial Advisory Board, American Journal of Physics (2005-2007).
  • Consulting Editor, American Journal of Physics (2008-).

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