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Description
The course introduces Einstein's theories of special and general relativity. These theories, introduced in the early 20th century, along with quantum theory, provide the modern framework for the description of the fundamental physical theories of gravity and electromagnetism.
Special relativity deals with physics in the absence of gravity. It requires a rethink of many familiar concepts (such as what it means for events to be simultaneous) because of the constancy (and finiteness) of the speed light. We will be looking at the basic physical concepts of mass, momentum, energy and electromagnetism within this framework and their mathematical description. No prior familiarity of Maxwell's equations will be assumed.
General relativity is a profound generalisation of special relativity which incorporates gravity. The mathematical description of general relativity requires the mathematical language of differential geometry which uses the notions of metric, connection and curvature, which will be introduced from scratch.
The earliest tests of general relativity where the observation that light is bent by massive objects such as the sun, the precession of the perihelion of the planet Mercury, gravitational redshifts and radar echo delays. Some of these will be discussed at the end of the course.
Module deliveries for 2024/25 academic year
Last updated
This module description was last updated on 8th April 2024.
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