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PHY483/1483F
Pre-class reading and digitised lecture notes
Note: Doing the assigned reading before coming to class is
compulsory.
| Wk |
Date |
Reading (Carroll) |
Lecture notes / topic |
| 1 |
fri-10-sep |
[none] |
Introduction
to the course and the prof. |
| 1 |
wed-15-sep |
1.1-1.6 |
Special
relativity; Boosts and rotations; Minkowski metric; Vectors |
| 2 |
fri-17-sep |
1.7-1.10 |
Dual
vectors and Tensors in Minkowski spacetime; Electromagnetic field in
relativistic notation |
| 2 |
wed-22-sep |
2.1-2.5 |
Energy-momentum;
Constant acceleration; Equivalence Principle; Gravity as
geometry |
| 3 |
fri-24-sep |
2.6-2.7 |
Tensors
in curved spacetime; Locally inertial coords; Causality (e.g. flat
spacetime, simple cosmological metric) |
| 3 |
wed-29-sep |
2.8-2.10, 3.1-3.4 |
Levi-Civita
tensor density, differential forms, integration; Christoffel connection,
covariant derivatives; geodesics |
| 4 | fri-01-oct | 3.4-3.8 | Geodesic
equation, affine parameter, Riemann tensor, Einstein tensor,
Killing vectors
|
| 4 |
wed-06-oct |
|
Riemann computation example |
| 5 |
fri-08-oct |
1.9, 3.5, 3.9-3.10, 4.1-4.2 |
Energy-momentum tensor;
introduction to Einstein's equation |
| 5 |
wed-13-oct* |
4.1-4.2 |
Einstein's equation,
the geodesic equation, and the Newtonian limit. Why a tensor theory of gravity? |
| 6 |
fri-15-oct |
1.10, 4.3-4.4 |
Lagrangian formulation: action for gravity and obtaining Einstein's equations |
| 6 |
wed-20-oct |
4.3-4.4 |
Lagrangian
formulation and Einstein's equations; example
of energy-momentum tensor: particles |
| 7 |
fri-22-oct |
[none] |
discussion of HW #1 problems |
| 7 |
wed-29-oct |
4.5-4.7 |
Energy-momentum tensor for spin-0 and spin-1 fields; cosmological
constant |
| 8 | fri-29-oct | 4.6, 4.8, Appendix F |
Energy
conditions; Raychaudhuri's equation; Alternative theories of
gravity | | 8 | wed-03-nov |
5.1-5.3 |
Black holes: introduction to Schwarzschild metric ; singularity;
Killing vectors |
| 9 | fri-05-nov |
5.4-5.7 | Geodesics
of Schwarzschild |
| 9 | wed-10-nov* | [none] |
Causal structure of Schwarzschild black holes |
| 10 | fri-12-nov | Appendix G |
Penrose diagrams |
| 10 | wed-17-nov | 5.5, 5.8 | Classic experimental
tests of GR involving Schwarzschild black hole geometry; Star
interiors
|
| 11 | fri-19-nov | 6.1-6.5 | Reissner-Nordstrom black
holes; Preliminary introduction to Black Hole Thermodynamics
(Hawking Radiation, entropy, etc.) |
| 11 |
wed-24-nov |
[none] |
Black Hole Thermodynamics: Guest lecturer Dr. Ashish
Saxena |
| 12 | fri-26-nov | 6.1-6.5 | Hawking Temperature and
Euclidean black hole; Killing horizons |
| 12 | wed-01-dec* | [none] | Kerr black hole;
[quantum relativistic] String Theory and why it has the graviton
in its spectrum |
| 13 | fri-03-dec | [none] | Extra dimensions of space: flat, and
warped |
| 13 | wed-08-dec | Please review all
your lecture notes before coming to this class. Review lecture /
Q&A session. N.B.: Come prepared, with
questions! |
Note: * = homework assignment due by 1:10pm
To view PDF files, you should have Adobe Reader
installed.
Advice
Here's a
chart of Greek letters in my handwriting . Make sure you
read the assigned sections of Carroll (the course
textbook) before turning up to class. Doing the assigned reading
will make the lecture more comprehensible and much more valuable for
you. The assigned reading will be posted no less than two days before
lecture.
Digitised lecture notes will be uplinked soon after each
lecture. Since important in-lecture annotations to prepared notes
will be made, uplinking of course lecture notes prior to lecture would
be inconsistent with causality and hence will not be done.  I also have
other sound educational reasons for loading lecture notes
after the fact... not to mention the common phenomenon of
last-minute titivations. Please also remember that
I am providing lecture notes as a service, primarily for
students with disabilities. So please don't challenge my
post-lecture uploading policy; thanks.
I number important equations in my lecture notes, to help you synchronize
with auxiliary notes you may take during class.
Important deadlines and dates can be found on the Arts
and Science Calendar Sessional Dates page .
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