Notes on Relativity and Cosmology - Physics Department, UCSB
Notes on Relativity and Cosmology - Physics Department, UCSB Notes on Relativity and Cosmology - Physics Department, UCSB
18 CONTENTS d) include references to outside sources as appropriate for the project. Projects will be graded on a combination of creativity, initiative, and the understanding of course material (and outside reading) that they demonstrate. The rule of thumb should be that your project should be something that you are proud of and not something that is quickly thrown together. Each project must be approved by me, so you need to discuss your project with me before you begin. You are welcome to continue to consult with me while you work on your project. Each of you need to ‘contract’ with me for a project by March 25 (shortly after Spring Break). At this point, you and I will have more or less agreed on what your project will be. As a result, you should come and talk to me even earlier in order to bounce a few ideas around before making a final decision. It is a good idea to start thinking about your project early!!! You will be asked to give a (very) short presentation about your project at the end of the semester. The projects are due at the start of the scheduled final exam period, 5pm on Tuesday, May 6. Some suggestions for projects are: i) A standard report/term paper on a topic related to relativity, gravity, or cosmology. ii) For web people: building a set of relativity/cosmology web pages either as an electronic ‘term paper’ or for educational purposes. iii) For any programmers out there: writing a small computer game (something like asteroids???) that treats relativity correctly. (Be careful here: several people have tried this in the past, but have bitten of more than they could really handle.) Another suggestion would be just writing a piece of code the demonstrates some important aspect of gravity, relativity, or cosmology. iv) For educators: preparing a set of instructional materials in relativity, cosmology, or related subjects for students at a level of your choosing. v) For the writing/journalism crowd: a short story, poem, or ‘magazine article’ dealing with some of the topics discussed in this course. Note: Poetry need not be especially good as literature – the limerick on the front page of this syllabus would be of sufficient quality. Poetry may be set to music (i.e., lyrics for a song, possibly ‘revised’ lyrics to an existing song). vi) For any artists: A work of visual, audio, or performing art could in principle be an excellent project. One year someone wrote a nice play. However, it must in some way involve your understanding of the course material. If you are interested in this kind of project, be extra sure to discuss it with me carefully.
0.3. COURSEWORK AND GRADING 19 vii) Anything else you can think of that follows the basic guidelines given above. I’m quite flexible. If you think of an interesting project, I’ll be happy to discuss it with you and see if we can make it work!!! The project is an opportunity for you to get what you want out of this course and to extend the course in a direction that you would like it to go. I will therefore expect that your project will demonstrate either substantial creativity on your part or some further reading beyond what we will cover in class. This reading can be from books (such as those suggested in section 0.4) or magazines such as Scientific American, Physics World, or Physics Today. For example, you might wish to study one of the following topics in more detail: 1) black holes (their structure, collisions, or hawking radiation) 2) the big bang 3) higher dimensional theories of physics (Kaluza-Klein theories or ‘braneworlds’) 4) the history of relativity 5) experimental tests of relativity, or experiments in cosmology. These can be recent experiments or a historical treatment of the early experiments. 6) current and/or future NASA/ESA missions to study relativity and/or cosmology (HUBBLE, CHANDRA, other x-ray satellites, COBE, MAP, PLANCK, LISA, balloon experiments such as last year’s Boomerang, and others) 7) the mathematical structure of general relativity 8) gravitational waves 9) gravitational lensing 10) Sagittarius A ∗ (the black hole at the center of our galaxy) 11) X-ray telescopes and their observations of black holes 12) LIGO 13) Current ideas about ‘more fundamental’ theories of gravity (loop gravity, string theory, noncommutative geometry). 14) Closed Timelike Curves (aka ‘time machines’) 15) Wormholes 16) The Global Positioning System Feel free to talk with me about where and how to locate references on these and other subjects. Some examples of past course projects can be found on the PHY312 web page (see http://physics.syr.edu/courses/PHY312.03Spring). I encourage you to build from what other students have done in the past.
- Page 1: Notes on Relativit
- Page 4 and 5: 4 CONTENTS 2.3 Homework Problems .
- Page 6 and 7: 6 CONTENTS 8 General Relativity and
- Page 8 and 9: 8 CONTENTS
- Page 10 and 11: 10 CONTENTS While I have worked to
- Page 12 and 13: 12 CONTENTS way you deal with almos
- Page 14 and 15: 14 CONTENTS but this does not mean
- Page 16 and 17: 16 CONTENTS 0.3 Coursework and Grad
- Page 20 and 21: 20 CONTENTS However, your challenge
- Page 22 and 23: 22 CONTENTS 0.4 Some Suggestions fo
- Page 24 and 25: 24 CONTENTS Course Calendar The fol
- Page 26 and 27: 26 CHAPTER 1. SPACE, TIME, AND NEWT
- Page 28 and 29: 28 CHAPTER 1. SPACE, TIME, AND NEWT
- Page 30 and 31: 30 CHAPTER 1. SPACE, TIME, AND NEWT
- Page 32 and 33: 32 CHAPTER 1. SPACE, TIME, AND NEWT
- Page 34 and 35: 34 CHAPTER 1. SPACE, TIME, AND NEWT
- Page 36 and 37: 36 CHAPTER 1. SPACE, TIME, AND NEWT
- Page 38 and 39: 38 CHAPTER 1. SPACE, TIME, AND NEWT
- Page 40 and 41: 40 CHAPTER 1. SPACE, TIME, AND NEWT
- Page 42 and 43: 42 CHAPTER 1. SPACE, TIME, AND NEWT
- Page 44 and 45: 44 CHAPTER 2. MAXWELL, E&M, AND THE
- Page 46 and 47: 46 CHAPTER 2. MAXWELL, E&M, AND THE
- Page 48 and 49: 48 CHAPTER 2. MAXWELL, E&M, AND THE
- Page 50 and 51: 50 CHAPTER 2. MAXWELL, E&M, AND THE
- Page 52 and 53: 52 CHAPTER 2. MAXWELL, E&M, AND THE
- Page 54 and 55: 54 CHAPTER 2. MAXWELL, E&M, AND THE
- Page 56 and 57: 56 CHAPTER 3. EINSTEIN AND INERTIAL
- Page 58 and 59: 58 CHAPTER 3. EINSTEIN AND INERTIAL
- Page 60 and 61: 60 CHAPTER 3. EINSTEIN AND INERTIAL
- Page 62 and 63: 62 CHAPTER 3. EINSTEIN AND INERTIAL
- Page 64 and 65: 64 CHAPTER 3. EINSTEIN AND INERTIAL
- Page 66 and 67: 66 CHAPTER 3. EINSTEIN AND INERTIAL
0.3. COURSEWORK AND GRADING 19<br />
vii) Anything else you can think of that follows the basic guidelines given<br />
above. I’m quite flexible. If you think of an interesting project, I’ll<br />
be happy to discuss it with you <strong>and</strong> see if we can make it work!!!<br />
The project is an opportunity for you to get what you want out of this<br />
course <strong>and</strong> to extend the course in a directi<strong>on</strong> that you would like it to go. I<br />
will therefore expect that your project will dem<strong>on</strong>strate either substantial<br />
creativity <strong>on</strong> your part or some further reading bey<strong>on</strong>d what we will cover<br />
in class. This reading can be from books (such as those suggested in<br />
secti<strong>on</strong> 0.4) or magazines such as Scientific American, <strong>Physics</strong> World, or<br />
<strong>Physics</strong> Today. For example, you might wish to study <strong>on</strong>e of the following<br />
topics in more detail:<br />
1) black holes (their structure, collisi<strong>on</strong>s, or hawking radiati<strong>on</strong>)<br />
2) the big bang<br />
3) higher dimensi<strong>on</strong>al theories of physics (Kaluza-Klein theories or ‘braneworlds’)<br />
4) the history of relativity<br />
5) experimental tests of relativity, or experiments in cosmology. These<br />
can be recent experiments or a historical treatment of the early experiments.<br />
6) current <strong>and</strong>/or future NASA/ESA missi<strong>on</strong>s to study relativity <strong>and</strong>/or<br />
cosmology (HUBBLE, CHANDRA, other x-ray satellites, COBE,<br />
MAP, PLANCK, LISA, ballo<strong>on</strong> experiments such as last year’s Boomerang,<br />
<strong>and</strong> others)<br />
7) the mathematical structure of general relativity<br />
8) gravitati<strong>on</strong>al waves<br />
9) gravitati<strong>on</strong>al lensing<br />
10) Sagittarius A ∗ (the black hole at the center of our galaxy)<br />
11) X-ray telescopes <strong>and</strong> their observati<strong>on</strong>s of black holes<br />
12) LIGO<br />
13) Current ideas about ‘more fundamental’ theories of gravity (loop<br />
gravity, string theory, n<strong>on</strong>commutative geometry).<br />
14) Closed Timelike Curves (aka ‘time machines’)<br />
15) Wormholes<br />
16) The Global Positi<strong>on</strong>ing System<br />
Feel free to talk with me about where <strong>and</strong> how to locate references <strong>on</strong> these<br />
<strong>and</strong> other subjects. Some examples of past course projects can be found <strong>on</strong><br />
the PHY312 web page (see http://physics.syr.edu/courses/PHY312.03Spring).<br />
I encourage you to build from what other students have d<strong>on</strong>e in the past.
Change language