General Relativity Physics 407 Fall 2009

Lecturer: W. Unruh. 311-B Hennings bldg (East side of bldg inside Rm 311).
Tel: 822 3273 FAX: 822 5324
Email:

Marker/TA: Daoyan Wang Henn 408 (West side of bldg on top floor)
Tel: 822 2095 (rm 408)
Email:

Web Site: www.theory.physics.ubc.ca/407-09
(For Assignments, Solutions, extra notes, this blurb, etc.)

Course Times: Lectures MWF 12:00 Buchanan D304
(If you find the class space unacceptable, complain esp to the dept.)

Text Book: J. Hartle -- Introduction to General Relativity

Course components: (The mark distributions are approximate)

Midterm=about 20%
The midterm will take place in mid February. Traditionally my midterms have been hard especially because students are not used to my problem style. (I value people being able to think about what they have learned rather than rote regurgitation of the material).
Assignments= about 20%
There will be about 8 assignments throught the term. It is important that these be done on time. Solutions will be posted here on this web site (www.theory.physics.ubc.ca/407-07). Assignments will be due about 10 days after they are assigned and solutions will be posted about three days later. Assignments handed in after the solutions are posted will not receive marks. Solutions handed in late will be deducted at 5% per day.
You may discuss the problems with each other, and approach either me or the TA with questions (we will not solve the problems for you, but will try to provide guidance as to how to think about the problems) However, I expect all of you to write up and understand your own solutions. Copying someone else's solutions will not be looked on with favour. (Plagerism-- the use of someone elses material as if it were your own-- is a high offense in the university. This includes copying other people's solutions to assignments or having someone else do your work for you. People have been barred from the university for such offenses.) I do encourage you to work together on assignmenta and to try to understand the questions, the course material or even how to do the problems by working together. However you must write up your own solutions, using your own understanding of the solutions in writing it up.
Essay= about 25%
Due: Last day of classes.
Length: 10 pages.
Format: Up to you. (Eg, if a web page would be more suitable to the way you want to make your point, use that, or if a tape, CD, DVD, MD would be useful, I can read those-- but do not send me the computer files from proprietary editors (MS Word, etc) assuming that I can read them on my computer. I cannot. Of course you may use whatever document processor you wish to in order to produce a printed paper copy, which I can read. I can also accept postscipt or PDF documents for electronic submission. If in any doubt, ask me.)
Make sure you reference your sources.
The essay topic is up to you to decide. It can be on any topic in General Relativity. This should be a chance for you to study in more depth some topic which you would be interested in knowing more about.
Please make sure that you have an idea of what you want to write on by the time of the midterm. I expect to get a brief description of your the topic you have chosen by the time of the midterm. You are expected to do your own (secondary source) research on your topic, and any indication of a "canned" essay (Ie, any essay written in whole or in part by someone else) will be regarded with great disfavour by both me and the University. (See the University Policy on Plagerism.) (Students have been expelled for handing in essays written by others, or where major sources were not attributed). You are required to state your sources for the material you use with an appropriate biliographical reference.
Final= about 35%
The final exam will consist of a number of questions of which you will not have to answer all for maximum marks (ie, there will be some choice). It will test a combination of your knowing the material and your ability to use it to think about gravity.

I have not made the above mark distribution definite as I want freedom to be able to adjust marks to take into account hapstances of the year.

Purpose of the Course

The purpose of the course is to develope your understanding of Einstein's insight in explaining gravity by the inequable flow of time from place to place and the changing structure of space. The course will start from the key insight that Minkowski had about special relativity as a new metric on space and time, and develope that by showing how the metric could be used also to explain gravity. This will necessitate the appreciation of the arbitariness of description of location by coordinates, and how non-the-less one can describe physical structures which should be independent of that arbitrariness. It will use the metric, and the distances thus defined to generalise notions of straight lines ( and of Newton's laws), of parallelism, of functions and vectors in order to describe physical phenomenon in situations where there is not constant background structures to use as reference points in the descriptions. The course will look at physical situation such as the gravitational fields around material bodies, of black holes, and finally of cosmologies. If time permits we will also look at gravitational radiation. You will be expected to learn how to apply the mathematical machinery to physical situations.

Copying, Plagerism, etc

As you should know by now, copying and plagerism are frowned up very strongly by the university and by me. I am perfectly fine with you working together on the assignment but everyone should make sure that they write up the solutions separately. Simply copying your friends assignment can land you in very hot water-- ie do not do it. Working together on the exams (Mid Term or final) is not to be done.
Similarly, plagerism is also not to be done. This includes copying other people's essays, buying essays off the web, using material from the web or elsewhere without saying where the material came from, etc. The Calendar has an extensice section on Academic misconduct. Calendar entry on Academic Misconduct Please read it. Violation of these rules can lead to disciplinary actions, ranging from 0 on the assignement/essay, failure of the course, up to and including expulsion from the university.