Fall 2011 ASTR 2030 Homepage
Fall 2011 ASTR 2030 Black Holes: Syllabus
Content
This is a lower division course intended to introduce non-science students
to the predicted properties of black holes,
and to the astronomical evidence for their existence.
Along the way we will study
modern ideas about the nature of space, time, and gravity.
For more details, see the
Timetable.
This course is approved for the
Natural Sciences Core Curriculum.
There are no prerequisites.
This course will emphasize visualization and conceptual understanding,
although course material and homeworks will involve high school math and science.
If you are a science major,
or if you would prefer a more mathematically oriented course,
then you should consider taking
ASTR 3740 Relativity and Cosmology in Spring 2012.
This course will not be an easy A.
The concepts of relativity are strange and non-intuitive,
and it will require hard work on your part to begin to grasp them.
Most of the homeworks
apply mathematics to solve intriguing questions about black holes.
Goals
The overarching goal of any college course, especially a science course,
should be for you to learn how to think, reason, and argue
–
using logic, observation, and evidence.
The homework assignments and group projects
are intended to give you an opportunity to practice those scientific skills.
The text will describe to you several examples of how scientists
battle their way towards the truth.
The goals of this course are:
-
to get you to think;
-
to challenge your preconceptions about the nature of space, time, and reality;
-
to show you how a little mathematics,
coupled with physical understanding,
can allow you to draw amazing conclusions;
-
not to tell you a pile of facts that you then regurgitate in tests;
-
to bring science and art together.
Exams
There will be two midterm exams, which will take place in class on Th Sep 15 and Th Oct 27,
and one final exam on Mon Dec 12 4:30-7pm,
as scheduled on the
Timetable.
Each midterm is to be completed during the first 45 minutes of class.
The last 30 minutes of class will be devoted to discussing
the answers to the midterm.
The exams will cover material discussed in class and in the assigned reading,
and will consist largely of multiple choice and short-answer questions.
The Sep 15 midterm will be on Special Relativity.
The Oct 27 midterm will be on General Relativity and Black Holes.
The final will cover all material covered cumulatively during the semester
up to and including Dec 1,
with some emphasis on material covered since the Oct 27 midterm.
No testable new material will be introduced
during the last week of the semester, week 16.
In class group Projects
There will be 5 in class group
Projects,
as scheduled on the
Timetable.
The principal goal of the projects is
to get you to think and argue logically
with your peers.
The projects are not intended to be chug-and-plug exercises.
Projects will take place during the class period.
For the project, you will assemble into groups of 3 or 4.
You must work in a group, not by yourself.
You should immediately assign one of your group to be the "Scribe".
The group should discuss and solve the project together.
Projects are to be completed during the first 45 minutes of class.
The last 30 minutes of class will be devoted to discussing
the "answers" to the project.
It is the Scribe's responsibility to write up the results
obtained by the group, and to submit them at the end of class.
I will accept only one submission from each group.
The write-up must include the name of the Scribe,
and the names of all the other members of the group.
To simplify the logistics,
the groups will be informal, probably consisting of your nearest neighbors.
You do not have to stay in the same group,
and indeed I encourage you to rotate into other groups.
If possible, you should rotate the role of Scribe.
Make a goal that you personally should be Scribe for at least one group project during the semester.
Only the 3 best of your 5 group projects will count for grade.
Thus you may omit 2 group projects without penalty.
This includes cases where you cannot be in class for a project
for reasons beyond your control.
Homework
There will be 4 homework sets,
which will be handed out in class,
and which will also be downloadable from
Homework.
The homeworks are due
as scheduled on the
Timetable.
Only the 3 best of your 4 homeworks will count for grade.
Thus you may omit 1 homework without penalty.
There will be a tendency for Homework problems
to be more mathematical than group projects or exams.
There will be a Homework Help Session
during the evening prior to the homework being due in class,
as scheduled on the
Timetable.
Clickers
We will be using clickers, and clicker points will contribute to your grade.
You must purchase a clicker at the CU Bookstore,
and then
register your clicker at
CUConnect
so that answers from your clicker can be credited to you.
Clicker questions will generally be of two kinds:
- Questions at the beginning of class
on the topic of the previous class,
or on the assigned reading;
- Concept questions arising in class.
You win clicker points as follows:
Points |
Assessment |
---|
0 |
No answer
|
1 |
Wrong answer
|
2 |
Right answer
|
In some cases there will be more than one correct answer to a question.
However, clickers allow you to give only one answer to a question.
Every person gets 4 free clicker days,
meaning that we will omit the worst scoring 4 days
from your clicker score.
These free clicker days include all eventualities,
including
days when your clicker fails to work,
days when you forgot your clicker,
days when you have a personal or family emergency,
days when you have to be elsewhere to represent your team or club or University,
and days when you go skiing.
It is strictly forbidden to operate someone else's clicker for them.
If you are discovered doing this,
then both you and the person whose clicker you operated will receive an F.
If you see a classmate operating two or more clickers,
please bring it immediately to my attention.
TA
Eddy Barratt
will be looking after the clicker system,
and any questions regarding clickers should be addressed to him.
Grading
Grading will be based on
clicker points,
the in class group projects,
homework,
the midterms,
and the final.
Item | Date | Weight |
---|
Clicker points | every class | 10% |
In class group Projects | see Timetable | 20% |
Homework | see Timetable | 20% |
Midterms | Th Sep 15, Th Oct 27 | 40% (20% each) |
Final | 4:30-7pm Sat Dec 12 | 30% |
If you add that up, it comes to 120%.
To bring it to 100%, I will drop
your worst midterm, or 2/3 of your final, if that is worse.
Extra Credit
You can gain up to 2% extra credit by advising me of any
science fiction novel or short story, or movie or TV episode,
that involves Black Holes or Wormholes
(but not just time travel)
that is not already listed at
Black Hole Books, Movies.
In past years, students have gained extra credit
by advising me of
a movie or TV episode that involves Black Holes or Wormholes.
Thanks to the efforts of previous generations of students,
the list of movies and TV episodes has become fairly extensive.
For this class, therefore, I am broadening the scope to include
works of science fiction, including both novels and short stories.
To gain the full extra credit,
you must name a specific work of science fiction,
you must have read the work yourself,
and you
must include a short review of the work
(don't forget the quotes rule).
and you should
provide a link
to a place on the web
where further information about the work can be found.
Extra credits are first come first served.
You can submit an extra credit any time during the semester,
and, if approved, I will add it to the website.
After that, another student may not use the same
novel, short story, or movie
for extra credit.
On line grades through CULearn
I plan to make grades available on line through CULearn.
TA
Eddy Barratt
will be taking care of on line grades,
and any questions about the system should be addressed to him.
Text
The required text is:
-
Kip S. Thorne, Black Holes and Time Warps: Einstein's Outrageous Legacy
(W.W. Norton, paperback, 1994).
This is a model of how a science book aimed non-scientists should be written.
Although presented as a popular book,
it is written with all the rigor of a scientific text,
with comprehensive notes and references.
A delightful blend of history, science, and personal anecdote
put together by one of the leading practitioners in the field.
If you want to go beyond this course and learn more about
special and general relativity,
I recommend (but do not require) the following texts:
-
Edwin F. Taylor and John A. Wheeler, Spacetime Physics
(Freeman, 1992).
This is a wonderfully written text on special relativity,
aimed at beginning undergraduate scientists.
-
Edwin F. Taylor and John A. Wheeler, Exploring Black Holes
(Addison Wesley 2000).
This is an equally wonderfully written text on general relativity,
with an emphasis on black holes,
aimed again at beginning undergraduate scientists.
-
James B. Hartle, Gravity, An Introduction to Einstein's General Relativity
(Addison Wesley 2003).
A more advanced but still accessible up to date text on general relativity,
again aimed at undergraduate scientists.
If you are serious about learning general relativity,
then this is the book for you.
-
John F. Hawley and Katherine A. Holcomb,
Foundations of Modern Cosmology, 2nd Edition
(Oxford University Press 2006).
This very readable text
is aimed at general undergraduate students, not just scientists.
It is focused mainly on cosmology, as its title suggests,
but it also has chapters on relativity and black holes.
Make sure you get the 2nd edition,
since there there has been huge progress in cosmology since the first edition came out in 1998.
If you are interested in screenwriting, I recommend (but do not require):
Websites
We will make extensive use of two websites that I developed
for this and similar classes at CU:
Common Courtesy
I expect you:
-
To give the class your full attention;
-
Not to engage in practices that may distract other students,
such as inappropriate use of laptops or other electronic devices;
-
Not to leave class early,
and not to rustle papers in preparation for leaving class.
Please note that University policy forbids bringing food or drink
into lecture halls.
You may expect me:
-
To treat you as an intelligent adult;
-
To finish lectures on time.
Academic Honesty
You are encouraged to form study groups and to discuss the course material
with your classmates, but anything that you submit for grade must be your own work.
We remind you that a
Student Honor Code system
has been implemented throughout CU.
I have a very simple rule regarding the quoting or use of material
obtained through the web or elsewhere:
Anything that is not your own work should be in quotes, as in
"this is a sentence that I copied" (cite X)
and should preferably be accompanied by an appropriate citation
of the source.
Do not assume that wikipaedia is a reliable source!
Students with Disabilities
The law requires us to make reasonable accomodations to students
with learning or physical disabilities.
If you need such accomodations,
then you should tell me about them in a timely manner.
Normally, you should have obtained supporting documentation from
the university's
Disability Services.
Fall 2011 ASTR 2030 Homepage
Updated 2011 Aug 23