PHYS3550
GENERAL RELATIVITY
Textbook
B.F. Schutz,
“A First Course in General Relativity”
Reference
books
- C.W.
Misner, K.S. Thorne, J. A. Wheeler. “Gravitation”
- I.R.
Kenyon, “General Relativity
- R.
D’Inverno, “Introducing Einstein’s Relativity”
- A.
Einstein, “The Meaning of Relativity” (technical)
Other reading
- Steven S. Gubser, "The Little Book of String Theory" (popular-level introduction to concepts).
- Jozsef Illy, "The Practical Einstein. Experiments, Patents, Inventions".
- A.
Einstein, “Relativity. The Special and the General Theory”
(popular)
- A.
Pais, “Subtle is the Lord” (technical/historical/biographical)
Syllabus
Special
relativity: spacetime diagrams; co-ordinate transformation
rules; vector and tensor analysis; perfect fluids.
Curved
manifolds: Christoffel symbols and the metric; Riemannian
manifolds and covariant differentiation; parallel transport;
geodesics and curvature; Ricci and Einstein tensors.
Gravitational
Field Equations: Einstein’s equations; weak fields; gravitational
radiation.
Astrophysical
Applications: Schwarzschild geometry and black holes; Robertson-Walker
metric; Friedmann’s equations and their solutions; observational
test of General Relativity.
Assessment
2 Assignments
(worth 7.5% each)
Mid-Session
test (worth 15%)
Final
exam (worth 70%)
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