| 2004 Spring |
MWF 10:40-11:35 |
P128 |
Special relativity is a symmetry of nature. In this course we will examine its implications for both particles and waves, and their dynamics. It is a modern course, including things we have learned about relativity after 1916. If time permits, we'll consider its generalization to curved space (general relativity), as applied to gravity or strings.
Lecture notes in PDF format (updated 5/4/04)
Outline
- Spacetime: nonrelativistic, Minkowski,
examples, experiments, conformal
- Spin: nonrelativistic tensors, SU(2), nonrelativistic spinors, relativistic spinors
- Actions: equations of motion, conservation
- Particles: momentum, antiparticles, action, interactions, pair creation
- Waves: correspondence, external fields, electromagnetism
- Cosmology: dilaton, expansion, red shift
- Schwarzschild solution: metric, gravitational redshift, geodesics, black holes
- Strings: geometry, classical mechanics, gauges, quantum mechanics
- Yang-Mills: Lie algebra, nonabelian gauge theory, lightcone gauge
- General relativity: coordinate tensors, gauge invariance, covariant derivatives
Grading
Grading will be based entirely on homework. Problems will be taken from those in the lecture notes. You may discuss problems with classmates, but the write-up must be your own. Homework is due one week after assignment, at the beginning of class. (Put it on my desk when you enter.) No late homework is accepted; it may be handed in early, but only to me in person.