General Information

A comprehensive introduction to Einstein’s theory of relativistic gravity. This course focuses on the formal structure of the theory.

Prerequisites

  • Knowledge of special relativity and methods of dynamics at level of Classical Mechanics by Goldstein
  • No prior experience with general relativity or differential geometry needed

Topics Covered

  • physical motivation, differential geometry, geodesic motion on curved manifolds, the Einstein equations, and experimental tests of general relativity;
  • discuss applications to black holes, gravitational waves, and cosmology.

Workload

  • 5-15 hours/week, 1 Final Exam, 13 Problem Sets [Fall 2022]

General Advice

Testimonials

Fun and cool; it is not recommended, but you can take it with little prior physics experience. You will need to be comfortable with the math though, which in this case is differential geometry, but in the physics context. [Fall 2022]

Past Offerings

Semester Professor Median Grade Course Page
Fall 2022 Tom Hartman N/A PHYS6553_FA22.pdf