Relativity and cosmology I

Summary

Introduce the students to general relativity and its classical tests.

Content

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
• Describe physical phenomena in different coordinate systems
• Compute Christofell symbols and curvatures from a given line element
• 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

Teaching methods

Ex cathedra and exercices in classroom

Assessment methods

final written exam

Supervision

Resources

Bibliography

1. S. Carroll, "Spacetime and Geometry: an Introduction to General Relativity"
2. B. Schutz, "A First Course in General Relativity"
3. R. Wald, "General Relativity"
4. S. Weinberg, "Gravitation and Cosmology"
5. C. Mizner, K.S. Thorne, J.A. Wheeler, "Gravitation"
6. L. Landau, Lifshitz, "The classical theory of fields"

Ressources en bibliothèque

• Gravitation and Cosmology / Weinberg
• Gravitation / Mizner
• General relativity / Wald
• Spacetime and Geometry: an Introduction to General Relativity / Carroll
• A First Course in General Relativity / Schutz
• The classical theory of fields / Landau

Moodle Link

• https://go.epfl.ch/PHYS-427