Physics 387M: Relativity Theory I (Fall 1997)
Schedule: Tue, Thu 12:30 - 2:00 PM --- RLM 5.124 --- Unique # 54890
Instructor: M.W. Choptuik
Office: RLM 9.208A --- Office Hours: Mon, Wed 10:00-11:30 and by appointment
Phone: 471-1541 --- E-mail: matt@infeld.ph.utexas.edu
Instructor's Home Page:
http://wwwrel.ph.utexas.edu/Members/matt/welcome.html
Course Home Page:
http://wwwrel.ph.utexas.edu/Members/matt/Teaching/97Fall/Phy387M/Syllabus.html
Recommended Text:
General Relativity by R. M. Wald, The University of Chicago Press, 1984
Coop bookstore may be temporarily sold out, additional copies should be available
by late next week.
Course Overview:
This course will provide an introduction to the theory of general relativity.
Coverage will roughly parallel the first six chapters, plus Appendices B and
C, of Wald:
- 1. Introduction
- 2. Manifolds and Tensor Fields
- 3. Curvature
- 4. Einstein's Equation
- 5. Homogeneous, Isotropic Cosmology
- 6. The Schwarzschild Solution
- Appendix B. Differential Forms, Integration, and Frobenius's Theorem
- Appendix C. Maps of Manifolds, Lie Derivatives, and Killing Fields
See the syllabus below for a preliminary list of topics to be covered
on a per-lecture basis. From time to time I will distribute
course notes,
but for the most part you will be responsible for taking
notes in class.
Other References:
Apart from Wald, there are a quite a number of standard textbooks and references on
General Relativity. Three which I particularly recommend are
- Gravitation by Misner, Thorne and Wheeler
- Gravitation and Cosmology by Weinberg
- A First Course in General Relativity by Schutz
Copies of these will be placed on two hour reserve in the PMA library.
Grades: Homework and Exams:
Course grades will be determined on the basis of
performance on a number of homework assignments, and on an open-book
final exam, with the following weighting:
- Homework Assignments: 80%
- Final Examination (open book): 20%
The currently scheduled final examination slot is Monday, December 15, 9:00 -- 12:00 noon,
but I intend to have the exam rescheduled earlier in the exam period since I will be
travelling on Dec. 15th.
You will be responsible for all material covered in class for the final.
Homework:
Homework will be assigned roughly every two weeks, and will generally
be due within one to two weeks. Late
homework may be accepted at the instructor's discretion.
As the course progresses, the Homework Schedule
web page will contain information concerning current and past assignments.
The weight of each individual homework towards your final mark will
be based on the complexity and difficulty of the assignment.
All homework must be submitted by December 4 (the last class day) at the latest.
Computer Access:
Apart from lectures, my preferred means of communicating general course information will
be via e-mail. All students should have an account on the Physics Dept.
public Unix systems located in the Graduate Computer Lab, RLM 3.118.
Please send
me
an e-mail message as soon as possible giving me your preferred
e-maill address. You will be also be given remote access to the
Center for Relativity Unix machines. Some of the
homework assignments will require use of the Maple symbolic manipulation package and
I will encourage you to use Relativity machines for that purpose.
Syllabus
Due |
Tuesday |
Thursday |
|
|
August 28 Introduction |
|
September 2 Manifolds and Vectors |
September 4 Tensors |
|
September 9 Tensors |
September 11 Derivative Operators |
|
September 16 Differential Forms and Integration |
September 18 Lie Derivatives |
|
September 23 Curvature |
September 25 Curvature |
|
September 30 Geodesics |
October 2 Computing Curvature |
|
October 7 Special Relativity |
October 9 General Relativity: Field Equations |
|
October 14 General Relativity: Field Equations |
October 16 Linearized Gravity |
|
October 21 Linearized Gravity |
October 23 Gravitational Radiation |
|
October 28 Schwarzschild Solution |
October 30 Schwarzschild Solution |
|
November 4 Geodesics of Schwarzschild |
November 6 Classical Tests |
|
November 11 Classical Tests |
November 13 The Kruskal Extension |
|
November 18 Black Holes |
November 20 Cosmology: Homogeneity & Isotropy |
|
November 25 Cosmology: Dynamics |
November 27 Thanksgiving |
|
December 2 Brief History of the Universe |
December 4 Review & Class Evaluation |