General Relativity (Physics 364)
Sean Carroll, Physics Department, University of Chicago
Winter quarter, 2005
(black hole at the center of galaxy NGC 7052, from Astronomy Picture of the Day)
(black hole at the center of galaxy NGC 7052, from Astronomy Picture of the Day)
Physics 364 is the graduate course in general relativity, Einstein's theory of gravitation as the curvature of spacetime, a subject which has become an increasingly necessary part of the graduate curriculum. Aside from being a fundamental pillar of modern physics, and hence something that should be familiar to any educated person, general relativity is nowadays used all the time in astrophysics, cosmology, and high-energy theory.
Different students will bring a wide variety of backgrounds to the course, and our goal will be to try to keep everybody happy and interested. Thus, the basics of special relativity etc. will be covered, although briefly. The emphasis will be on the foundations and applications of general relativity, with occasional glimpses into advanced topics which can be ignored if you wish.
Grading: The final grade will be based 60% on problem sets and 40% on a take-home final exam. You are encouraged to talk to your fellow students about the problem sets, but make sure that what you hand in is produced by you.
Here is a short (24 pages) introduction to the basics of GR. (Also in pdf.)
The course will meet Mondays and Wednesdays from 12:00 to 1:30 p.m.
in Kersten 105.
The final exam will be a twenty-four hour take-home
final, from noon March 10th to noon March 11th.
Sean Carroll, Professor
Iggy Sawicki, Grader
Problem sets will be handed out
on Wednesdays, due the following Wednesday. Check the
messages page to see if there are
corrections or updates to the problem sets between when they are
handed out and when they are due.
Click on the titles to see the
amazon.com
entry for each book. You can even buy them online if you like.
See also Books
on General Relativity.
Dates
Personnel
Office: RI 262
Office Phone: 773/702-7635
Email: carroll [at] theory.uchicago.edu
Office Hours: after class, or as requested.
Email: sawickii [at] theory.uchicago.edu
Outline
Problem Sets
Books
What did you think, I was going to use some other book? My book has its own
web page, which is good considering all the errata that
have accumulated.
This is the best supplement if you want to go beyond what is in
my book, into more advanced topics. You won't need it for this
course, but you might want it anyway.
This is an excellent book, at a slightly lower level than the present
course. Good for brushing up on your special relativity, and expressing
GR concepts in a language familiar from other physics courses.
A very useful although idiosyncratic look at the subject, developed from
first principles. An excellent reference, although probably not the
place to start.
Even more idiosyncratic, although in a completely opposite direction from
Weinberg. Encyclopedic, but slightly dated in places. Also really big.
A lesser-known but extremely useful text, once you get past the weird
stuff on special relativity at the beginning. Offers clear expositions
of important topics at about the level of this course.
A classic, offering a no-nonsense overview of some advanced topics,
especially exact solutions and singularity theorems.
Another good book by Schutz, this one covering some
mathematical points that are left out of the GR book (but at a very
accessible level). Included are
discussions of Lie derivatives, differential forms, and applications to
physics other than GR.
Other Resources
Sean M. Carroll
Enrico Fermi Institute
University of Chicago
5460 S. Ellis Ave.
Chicago, IL 60637
Office: 773/702-7635 Fax: 773/834-2222
carroll [at] theory.uchicago.edu