Texts
Resnick and Halliday. Basic Concepts in Relativity and Early Quantum Theory. 2nd ed. Macmillan Publishing Company.
French. Special Relativity. W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.
Taylor and Wheeler. Exploring Black Holes, Introduction to General Relativity. Addison Wesley Longman.
Grading
| Weekly Problem Sets |
20% |
| Two one-hour Quizzes |
20% each |
| Three-hour Final Exam |
40% |
|
Syllabus
Roughly in order, we will cover:
Resnick and Halliday: Chapters 1, 2, 3, & 5, plus Supplementary Topics A, B, and C
French: Chapters 1-5 in parallel with Resnick and Halliday, then Chapters 6-8
Taylor and Wheeler: Chapters 2, 3, 4, and portions of 5, plus Projects A and D, as time permits
Topics
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Overview of Course, Related Subjects; History of Physics to 1900
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Background and History
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Relativistic Kinematics
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Relativistic Dynamics
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Relativity and Electromagnetism
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Red Shifts and Hubble Expansion of the Universe
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Equivalence Principle
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Curved Space Time