Module description
Syllabus
Equivalence principle, and the implications of formulating physics with no preferred inertial frames; Introduction to geometry; Embedded surfaces; Lengths of curves and geodesics, parallel transport; Tensors, particularly metric tensor; Covariant differentiation. Covariant differentiation and the Riemann curvature; parallel transport and geodesics. The Bianchi identities & the Einstein tensor; Equivalence principle and local Lorentz frames. Static and stationary fields, and their metric; Schwarzschild solution and its analysis; Introduction to Gravitational waves. Possibly: Introduction to cosmology.
Forbidden combinations
It is not possible to take both this course and the Physics department course 6CCP3630 General Relativity & Cosmology
Prerequisites
There are no formal prerequisites but you should be familiar with special relativity as in Special Relativity and Electromagnetism
Assessment details
Written examination or alternative assessment. Details to be confirmed.
Educational aims & objectives
Aims
The aim of the course is to show how the concept of a four-dimensional manifold provides an appropriate model for space-time, with the geometric notions of metric and curvature leading to Einstein's general theory of relativity, a geometric theory of gravity. The course develops differential geometry to include tensor calculus and covariant differentiation, as well as solutions to Einstein's field equations.
Teaching pattern
Three hours of lectures and one hour of tutorial per week throughout the term
Suggested reading list
Suggested reading/resources (link to My Reading Lists)