Physics 292
General Relativity
Announcements (Previous Announcements):
Reading: The material on differential geometry is rather nicely covered in Carroll's Chapter 2.
Homework: Solutions to HW1 will be posted Monday, January 28. HW2 is posted, due February 1 unless I change my mind. If you think you will have trouble getting this in on time let me know early.
General:
PHY292 is a graduate-level course in general relativity. The course assumes a familiarity and comfort with Newtonian physics and special relativity. Concepts in differential geometry will be introduced as needed. Topics to be covered include:
Review of Special Relativity
The Principle of Equivalence
Einstein's Equation
Black Hole Solutions
Perturbation Theory
Cosmology
Advanced Topics, such as Causal Structure, Singularity Theorems, Spinors, Gravitational Lensing, and Quantum Fields in Curved Spacetime, as time allows and depending on student interests.
Prerequisites: Multivariate calculus (MTH 103) and linear algebra (MTH 104). Classical mechanics (PHY181) and special relativity (PHY 143) or equivalent.
Instructor: Ronen Plesser, plesser@cgtp.duke.edu or 660-9668, Physics 245 – the latter two not very useful for actually finding me. Office hours Wednesday, 11-12:30.
TA: Sven Rinke, rinke@phy.duke.edu . Office hours Wednesday, 1:30-3:30pm, Physics 251.
Time and Place: Class will meet Monday and Wednesday 8:30-9:45, in the Physics Faculty Lounge, Physics 298.
Text: The main text will be S. Carroll, Spacetime and Geometry, Addison-Wesley, 2004. Much of this is in fact available online but the published book does have added material and expanded discussions. In addition you may find the following books, among others, useful:
R. Wald, General Relativity, University of Chicago Press, 1984. This is an excellent text, and I will follow Wald's presentation of some topics. It is somewhat dense and may be a difficult read some of the time, and the abstract index notation, while really very useful, is not the best for a first pass on this material.
S. Weinberg, Gravitation and Cosmology: Principles and Applications of the General Theory of Relativity, John Wiley and Sons, 1972. This book may be a bit dated and the notation clumsy, but the discussion is very physics-driven and on some points the clearest I know.
C.W. Misner, K.S. Thorne, and J.A. Wheeler, Gravitation, W.H. Freeman, 1973. Encyclopedic and complete. All the jokes aside, there are many topics on which this is the best presentation I know.
Grading: We will have weekly homework assignments, due Wednesday and a final exam, format TBD. Grades will be a the higher of the final exam grade and a weighted average of 30% HW and 70% Exam.