PHYS 564: General Relativity (Spring 2019)
TTH 11:30-12:50pm PAA A110
Instructor: Silas Beane B457 OH: Th 2pm-4pm and by appointment
TA: Andrew Baumgartner B422 Stop by or by appointment
Subject matter
General relativity.
Prerequisites
PHYS 515. Note that this is an advanced graduate course in physics. Prerequisites for highly-ambitious undergraduates
are PHYS 226 or equivalent, and the core E&M sequence (PHYS 321,322 and 323, with 323 possibly taken concurrently).
Useful resources
I will be using my own lecture notes compiled from many sources (including those listed below). I will make my lecture notes
available to you for scanning/copying.
Lecture notes:
Introduction to General Relativity, G. 't Hooft
An advanced course in General Relativity, E. Poisson
Advanced texts:
Gravitation and Cosmology, S. Weinberg
General Relativity, R. Wald
Gravitation, C.W. Misner, K.S. Thorne, J.A. Wheeler
Intermediate texts:
Introduction to General Relativity, L. Ryder
Spacetime and Geometry, S.M. Carroll
Introductory texts:
Gravity. An Introduction to Einstein's General Relativity, J. Hartle
A First Course in General Relativity, B. Schutz
Homework, exams and grades
Your grade for this course will be based on the homework, which will be assigned approximately once a week. Two of the homeworks will
count more than the others and are referred to on the calendar as "exams" (homework=60%, "exams"=40%). I encourage you to work on the
homework in groups. However, the work that you hand in must be your own, and you must list your collaborators on your manuscript as well
as any references you have used (if you find a solution to a problem on the web, you must cite the url, if you find the solution in a book, you
must cite the book, etc.). No collaboration with other humans or intelligent beings is permitted on the exams. However, all other sources are
fair game and, of course, must be cited, as described above. The homework assignments and exams will (generally) be due on Monday in the
TA's mailbox in the physics department office.
Calendar