PHYS 515 :: Physics Illinois :: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

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This is the main website for the UIUC Physics Department graduate course on General Relativity. This one-semester course covers the basics of Einstein's theory, developing the mathematical tools and the underlying physical concepts that lead to black holes, neutron stars, gravitational waves and cosmology. You can find a detailed course description, together with an explanation of the target audience for this class, in the course description.

Other resources

The full syllabus for this class can be found here, where you will find an explanation of how this course works, the topics covered, the classs textbook and other details. Also, please consult the schedule to help you keep track of what topics are being covered and when.

Announcements

Here's a blog post suggested by a student that talks about special relativity paradoxes and spacetime diagrams: http://www.physicsmatt.com/blog/2017/1/18/the-twin-paradox-in-special-and-general-relativity

Homework 1 (due 2/11/20): hw_01.pdf

Video lectures: secure/movies.html

Homework 2 (due 2/18/20): hw_02.pdf

Homework 3 (due 2/25/20): hw_03.pdf

Homework 4 (due 3/3/20): hw_04.pdf

MIDTERM EXAM: Tuesday March 10th, 2020

Homework 5 (due 3/10/20): hw_05.pdf

MIDTERM EXAM: Thursday March 12th, 2020

Homework solutions: secure/solutions.html

Homework 6 (due 3/26/20): hw_06.pdf

Homework 7 (due 3/26/20): hw_07.pdf

Zoom lecture link: secure/zoomlink.html

Homework 8 (due 4/07/20): hw_08.pdf

Midterm Solution: secure/solutions.html

Homework 9 (due 4/14/20): hw_09.pdf

Homework 10 (Corrected a minus sign error in the line element of problem 4) (due 4/21/20): hw_10.pdf

Conformal Diagrams: https://www.pitt.edu/~jdnorton/teaching/HPS_0410/chapters/black_holes_picture/index.html 

Homework 11 (due 4/28/20): hw_11.pdf

Homework 12 (due 5/6/20): hw_12.pdf

Final Exam (due 5/13/2020 at 1:30PM central time): final.pdf