PHYS 428/628: Relativity (Spring 2021)

Syllabus

Course Materials

Lecture Notes (in pdf format)

Topic 1: Motivation for Special Relativity

Topic 2: The Foundations of Special Relativity

Topic 3: Spacetime and 4-vectors

Topic 4: Relativistic Mechanics

Topic 5: Introduction to Tensors

Topic 6: Electrodynamics

Topic 7: Introduction to General Relativity

Topic 8: Geodesics in Curved Spacetime

Topic 9: Curvature and Einstein's Field Equations

Topic 10: The Schwarzschild Metric and Applications

Topic 11: Introduction to Cosmology

Recommended Reading

Topic 1: Rindler 1.1 through 1.10; Griffiths 1.2, 7, 12.1.1, Appendix C

Topic 2: Rindler 2.1 through 2.8, 3.1 through 3.6, 4.3; Griffiths 12.1.2 and 12.1.3

Topic 3: Rindler 5.1, 5.4 through 5.6; Griffiths 12.1.4, 12.2.1

Topic 4: Rindler Ch 6 (omit 6.5 and 6.8); Griffiths 12.2.2 through 12.2.4

Topic 5: Rindler 7.1, 7.2

Topic 6: Rindler 7.3 through 7.7; Griffiths 12.3

Topic 7: Rindler 1.11 through 1.16

Topic 8: Rindler 8.3, 8.4, 10.1 through 10.4

Topic 9: Rindler 10.5, 10.6, 14.1, 14.2

Topic 10: Rindler 11.1, 11.2, 11.5 through 11.12

Topic 11: Rindler 16.1 through 16.5 (except 16.3), 17.2, 18.1 through 18.4