Phys 503 / 729: General Relativity and Gravitation
Fall 2015 – Tentative Schedule
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| Aug 24 | Ch. 1 – Introduction: Aspects of Newtonian Gravity | |
| 26 | Ch. 1 – Special Relativity: Spacetime and Lorentz Transformations | |
| 28 | Ch. 1 – Special Relativity: Vectors and Tensors | |
| 31 | Ch. 1 – Special Relativity: Maxwell's Equations and Field Theory | |
| Sep 2 | Ch. 2 – Gravity as Geometry | |
| 4 | Ch. 2 – Manifolds: Vectors, Tensors and the Metric | last day to add |
| 7 | (* Labor Day Holiday *) | |
| 9 | Ch. 2 – Manifolds: FLRW Models | |
| 11 | Ch. 2 – Manifolds: Causality, Integration and Other Topics | |
| 14 | Ch. 3 – Differential Geometry: Covariant Derivatives | Quiz 1 HW#1 due |
| 16 | Ch. 3 – Differential Geometry: Geodesics | |
| 18 | Ch. 3 – Differential Geometry: Examples | |
| 21 | Ch. 3 – Differential Geometry: Curvature | HW#2 due |
| 23 | Ch. 3 – Differential Geometry: Geodesic Deviation | |
| 25 | Ch. 3 – Differential Geometry: Symmetries and Killing Vectors | Quiz 2 |
| 28 | Ch. 4 – Gravitation: Einstein's Equation | HW#3 due |
| 30 | Ch. 4 – Gravitation: Lagrangian Formulation of General Relativity | |
| Oct 2 | Ch. 4 – Gravitation: Properties of Einstein's Equation; The Cosmological Constant | |
| 5 | Ch. 4 – Gravitation: Energy Conditions and the Equivalence Principle | |
| 7 | Ch. 4 – Gravitation: Alternative Theories | |
| 9 | Ch. 4 – Gravitation: Alternative Theories | Quiz 3 |
| 12 | Ch. 5 – Black Holes I: The Schwarzschild Metric | HW#4 due |
| 14 | Ch. 5 – Black Holes I: Singularities and Geodesics | |
| 16 | Ch. 5 – Black Holes I: Tests of General Relativity | |
| 19 | Ch. 5 – Black Holes I: Extended Solutions; Astrophysical Black Holes | Quiz 4 |
| 21 | Ch. 6 – Black Holes II: Event Horizons, Killing Horizons | |
| 23 | Ch. 6 – Black Holes II: The Reissner-Nordström Metric | |
| 26 | Ch. 6 – Black Holes II: Rotating Black Holes | |
| 28 | Ch. 6 – Black Holes II: Black-Hole Thermodynamics | HW#5 due |
| 30 | Ch. 7 – Linearized Gravity: Linearization, Gauge and Degrees of Freedom | |
| Nov 2 | Ch. 7 – Linearized Gravity: Newtonian Fields and Photon Trajectories | |
| 4 | Ch. 7 – Linearized Gravity: Gravitational Wave Solutions | Quiz 5 |
| 6 | Ch. 7 – Linearized Gravity: Production of Gravitational Waves | |
| 9 | Ch. 7 – Linearized Gravity: Energy Loss Due to Gravitational Radiation | HW#6 due |
| 11 | Ch. 8 – Cosmology: Homogeneous, Isotropic Cosmological Models | |
| 13 | Ch. 8 – Cosmology: The Friedmann Equation and Solutions | Quiz 6 |
| 16 | Ch. 8 – Cosmology: Redshifts and Distances; Lensing | |
| 18 | Ch. 8 – Cosmology: The Early Universe | |
| 20 | Ch. 9 – Quantum Theory | Quiz 7 |
| 23 | (* Thanksgiving Holidays / Fall Break *) | |
| 25 | (* Thanksgiving Holidays / Fall Break *) | |
| 27 | (* Thanksgiving Holidays / Fall Break *) | |
| 30 | Ch. 9 – Quantum Field Theory in Curved Spacetime | |
| Dec 2 | Ch. 9 – The Unruh Effect and the Hawking Effect | |
| 4 | Remarks on a Quantum Theory of Gravity | Quiz 8 |
| Dec 7 | Monday, 1:00 – 4:00 p.m., Final Exam (topic checklist, html and pdf versions) | HW#7 |
website by luca bombelli <bombelli at olemiss.edu>; page last modified on 6 dec 2015