Project III (MATH 3382) 2019-20

General Relativity

Simon Ross and Paul Heslop

Description

General Relativity is one of the pillars of modern theoretical physics. General relativity is a classical theory of gravity, which identifies gravity with curvature of spacetime. The aim of this project is to develop a familiarity with the basic mathematical underpinnings of general relativity, and to explore its applications. We will consider both the basic tests of general relativity such as the precession of the perihelion of Mercury and bending of light by the sun and the application to black holes and cosmology.

This is a very broad subject, and there are a wide variety of possible directions for development. The project will involve both independent reading to master the mathematical machinery and calculation, working through the details of the classic results in the application areas.

Prerequisites:

Mathematical Physics II, Special Relativity and EM (or equivalents from Physics).

Corequisite:

None, although Differential Geometry may be of some help.

Resources

Many books: a couple of useful starting points are
  • Schutz, "A first course in general relativity", Cambridge University Press - a good first introduction, quite discursive.
  • D'Inverno, "Introducing Einstein's relativity", Oxford University Press - an excellent resource for independent study.
  • Hartle, "Gravity, an introduction to Einstein's General Relativity" Addison Wesley - a more physics-oriented approach, putting the applications first.

email: Simon Ross

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