Relativity and cosmology I
Summary
Introduce the students to general relativity and its classical tests.
Content
The course will be given on Zoom, the exercises in person
- The equivalence principle
- Introduction to differential geometry
- The Einstein equations and the Einstein-Hilbert action
- Perturbation theory for weak gravitational fields
- Gravitational waves
- The Schwarzschild solution and classical tests of GR
- Black holes
Learning Prerequisites
Required courses
Analytical mechanics
Classical Electrodynamics
Important concepts to start the course
Special Relativity
Learning Outcomes
By the end of the course, the student must be able to:
- Explain the basic concepts of special and general relativity
- Compute Christoffel symbols and curvatures from a given line element
- Derive the Einstein equations in linear perturbation theory for weak gravitational fields.
- Solve the Einstein equations in linear perturbation theory for weak gravitational fields.
- Explain the basics of gravitational radiation (equation of motion, generation and observation).
- Solve Einstein's field equations for static spherically symmetric problems
- Explain the observational effects at the scale of the Solar System that cannot be described by Newtonian gravity
- Explain the space-time associated to the Schwarzschild black hole.
Teaching methods
The course will be given on Zoom, the exercises in person
Assessment methods
Final written exam
Supervision
Office hours | No |
Assistants | Yes |
Forum | Yes |
Resources
Bibliography
- S. Carroll, "Spacetime and Geometry: an Introduction to General Relativity"
- B. Schutz, "A First Course in General Relativity"
- R. Wald, "General Relativity"
- N. Straumann, "General Relativity"
- M. Maggiore, "Gravitational waves, Volume 1: theory and experiments"
- S. Weinberg, "Gravitation and Cosmology"
- C. Mizner, K.S. Thorne, J.A. Wheeler, "Gravitation"
- L. Landau, Lifshitz, "The classical theory of fields"
Ressources en bibliothèque
Références suggérées par la bibliothèque
Notes/Handbook
Lectures notes will be provided in pdf format.
Moodle Link
In the programs
- Semester: Fall
- Exam form: Written (winter session)
- Subject examined: Relativity and cosmology I
- Courses: 3 Hour(s) per week x 14 weeks
- Exercises: 2 Hour(s) per week x 14 weeks
- Type: optional
- Semester: Fall
- Exam form: Written (winter session)
- Subject examined: Relativity and cosmology I
- Courses: 3 Hour(s) per week x 14 weeks
- Exercises: 2 Hour(s) per week x 14 weeks
- Type: optional
- Semester: Fall
- Exam form: Written (winter session)
- Subject examined: Relativity and cosmology I
- Courses: 3 Hour(s) per week x 14 weeks
- Exercises: 2 Hour(s) per week x 14 weeks
- Type: optional
- Semester: Fall
- Exam form: Written (winter session)
- Subject examined: Relativity and cosmology I
- Courses: 3 Hour(s) per week x 14 weeks
- Exercises: 2 Hour(s) per week x 14 weeks
- Type: optional