PHYS 5770 Spring 2014 Homepage
PHYS 5770 Gravitational Theory (General Relativity) Spring 2014: Syllabus
Content
The two most important applications of General Relativity are,
first, black holes,
and second, the cosmic microwave background.
The basis of the latter is general relativistic perturbation
theory in a uniform expanding background.
The intention in this course is to give you a
thorough understanding of black holes,
and to get you to the point where you can begin to understand
the cosmic background.
Unfortunately,
general relativity is challenging mathematically,
which poses barriers to understanding the interesting applications.
We will cover the mathematics that is required,
but with a clear view that the purpose of the mathematics
is to allow you to understand the applications.
I will hand out notes in advance for each section of the course,
and I will lecture from those notes.
This is the planned path for the course:
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Special Relativity
-
Coordinate approach to General Relativity
-
Ideal black holes (Schwarzschild, Reissner-Nordström, Kerr-Newman)
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Homogeneous, isotropic cosmology (FRW metric)
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Tetrad approach to General Relativity
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Black hole interiors
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General relativistic perturbation theory
-
Cosmic microwave background
Grading
Grading will be weighted as follows:
Problem Sets | 60% |
Midterm | 20% |
Final | 20% |
Policies
Class and University Policies
Spring 2014 PHYS 5770 Homepage
Updated 2014 Jan 13