Within the following problems we will discuss different models to understand the interaction of light with matter. The acquired knowledge will help us to derive fundamental electrodynamic effects and deduce the electrodynamic properties of materials, for example their dispersion relation. The problems shall provide a connection to following courses on theoretical optics.
The Drude model explains the electrodynamic properties of metals. The simple approach is to regard the conduction band electrons as non-interacting electron gas.
A plane wave passing through a magnetized plasma experiences a rotation of the polarization - the Faraday Rotation.
The change of the dispersion relation of a free electron plasma due to a constant magnetic field.
In a vanishing-thickness limit, the surface conductivity of graphene can be interpreted as permittivity.