PHY483F

Relativity Theory I (2020-21) -- PHY483F/1483F

Computing information and advice

Electronic formats

You will be required to hand in all written assignments as electronic .pdf files, as a pandemic safety measure. Short videos should be in .mp4 format.

Keeping backups of your work

It is a smart form of insurance to keep electronic copies of all important handwritten work that you could not bear to lose. I also recommend regularly and meticulously backing up all important computer files on an external drive in case of accidental loss.

Many GR students produce all or most of a written homework assignment by handwriting on paper. How can you convert that to a PDF file?

If you have access to a hardware scanner, use that. Most modern scanners can produce a PDF file directly; if not, use a search engine to find out how to convert its output file to PDF. Be sure to increase the contrast level if you wrote in pencil -- your writing should be clearly legible, not faint grey. Also, make sure that the resolution of your scan is high enough for the grader to read sub/superscripts in equations easily.
Use a scanner app on your smartphone that produces good quality PDF scans. In the past, students reported using U Scanner for iPhone and Android, but I cannot vouch for these products personally.
Take well-focused photographs of each page, convert each photo to a PDF file, and merge the PDF files using an app like PDFSAM.

Software for symbolic and numerical computations

Sometimes, computations in General Relativity can get reeeally longwinded! To cut down on the tedium of calculating key physical quantities of interest by hand, you will be learning how to check your algebra using certain Python packages. You will also learn how to use these packages to solve GR problems of interest numerically. Familiarity with the basics of Python coding will be assumed.