Application-oriented relativistic electrodynamics [education]

Relativistic electrodynamics is pertinent to many practical applications. The author discusses suitable syllabus and explores the best methods for educating future generations of engineers and applied physicists. It is argued that relativistic electrodynamics should be presented axiomatically, without trying to explain the physical meaning of special relativity, and that four-vectors and their mathematical properties should be emphasized, and that the field tensors should be avoided. The author believes that use of four-fold Fourier transforms greatly simplifies the relevant manipulations, and is also important for discussion of dispersive media. This approach yields many concepts as mathematical results, e.g., the relativistic Doppler effect, which therefore do not require a long phenomenological discussion with many explanations