Time Schedule:
Boris B. Blinov
PHYS 311
Seattle Campus
Special theory of relativity, Newtonian gravity, and relativistic effects of gravitation, including black holes, gravitational waves, and applications to cosmology. Prerequisite: 2.0 in PHYS 123.
Class description
You may have seen (and used!) Lorentz transformations, and you probably know that nothing can travel faster than light. What else is there to the Relativity Theory?! Well, a whole lot more! Really strange and counterintuitive things happen when you move very-very fast. Clocks slow down, lengths contract, and twins age differently. You can move with constant acceleration for as long as you wish, yet you never exceed the speed of light (well, of course!) Special Theory of Relativity gives us convincing answers to these puzzles. Then General Relativity poses new ones! You will learn how space and time are twisted and bent by the massive bodies, and how gravitation comes about. The basic principles and physics of Black Holes, Event Horizons and the Warp Drive will be explained.
Student learning goals
General method of instruction
Lectures and concept-develping tutorials.
Recommended preparation
Class assignments and grading
Homework problems based on material covered in lectures, additional homeworks for tutorials.
Homeworks, midterm exams and final exam.
