PH5450 Introduction to Relativity (2-0-0) ... (every 3rd year)... 2Cr
Course Description:
An introduction to the ideas and results of general relativity, including
a review of special relativity. Applications to the properties of
massive objects and cosmology are discussed.
Prerequisite: Graduate standing or permission of instructor.
Typical Texts:
- A Short Course in General Relativity, 2nd ed., J. Foster and J.D. Nightingale, Springer, 1995.
- General Relativity, I.R. Kenyon, Oxford Sciences Publications, 1990.
- A First Course in General Relativity, B.F. Schutz, Cambridge University Press, 1990.
Syllabus:
I. Review of Special Relativity
- Interial Frames
- Length Contraction and Time Dilation
- The Lorentz Transform and Lorentz Invariance
II. Vectors and Tensors
- Coordinate Transformations and Tensor Fields
- Surfaces and Manifolds
- Metrics
III. Spacetime and General Relativity
- Geodesic Motion
- Covariant Differentiation
- Newton's Gravity
- Gravity as a Metric Theory
IV. The Field Equations
- Parallel Transport, Geodesic Deviation and Curvature
- The Stess-Energy Tensor and Fluids
- Eintein's Equations
V. Physics Near Massive Objects
- The Schwarzschild Solution
- Gravitational Redshift and Perihelion Advance
- Paths of Particles and Light, the General Case
- Light Bending and Black Holes
VI. Cosmology
- Symmetries and the Metric, Killing Vectors
- Symmetric Spaces and the FRW Line Element
- The Friedman Models and Observations
Course Rationale:
Fundamental course for modern physics, astrophysics and cosmology.
Last Modified: Monday, 10-Jul-2000 14:25:28 EDT