ASTRONOMY 8700

RELATIVISTIC ASTROPHYSICS

SYLLABUS

Prerequisite: Physics 8100 or equivalent (i.e., Phys 671); Astronomy 600(0) and/or 815 would be helpful but isn't absolutely necessary.

Required text: 1) Ray D'Inverno, Introducing Einstein's Relativity , (Oxford U.P.) (paperback).

Recommended text: 2) Stuart L.\ Shapiro \& Saul A.\ Teukolsky, Black Holes, White Dwarfs \& Neutron Stars

Other books you might wish to look at to get alternative presentations of some of the material include Hans Stephani's, ``General Relativity'', Steven Weinberg's, ``Gravitation and Cosmology'', and Hans Ohanian and Remo Ruffini's ``Gravitation and Spacetime''.

TOPICS

Review of Special Relativity --- 1.5 weeks

Tensor formalism for General Relativity --- 2.0 weeks

Einstein equations --- 2.0 weeks

Schwarzschild Metric and Classical Tests of GR --- 2.0 weeks

March Neutron Stars and Pulsars --- 2.0 weeks

Black Holes and Kerr metric --- 2.0 weeks

Gravitational Radiation --- 2.0 weeks

Relativistic Cosmology --- 2.0 weeks

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