6 ECTS credits
180 h study time

Offer 1 with catalog number 4015691FNR for all students in the 1st semester at a (F) Master - specialised level.

Semester
1st semester
Enrollment based on exam contract
Impossible
Grading method
Grading (scale from 0 to 20)
Can retake in second session
Yes
Taught in
English
Faculty
Faculty of Sciences and Bioengineering Sciences
Department
Physics
Educational team
Christoph Uhlemann (course titular)
Activities and contact hours
26 contact hours Lecture
26 contact hours Seminar, Exercises or Practicals
Course Content

The first half of the course focuses on the foundations of general relativity, including the underlying mathematical formalism (basic concepts of differential geometry).

The second half focuses on a selection of important applications (black holes, gravitational waves, cosmology).

Course material
Handbook (Required) : Spacetime and Geometry: An Introduction to General Relativity, Carroll, Sean M., Reprint, Cambridge University Press, 9781108488396, 2019
Handbook (Recommended) : General Relativity, Wald, Robert M., University of Chicago Press, 9780226870335, 1984
Additional info

The required textbook is an extended version of the freely available notes: Sean M. Carroll "Lecture Notes on General Relativity" https://arxiv.org/abs/gr-qc/9712019.

Students should ideally have seen the following notions before (some recaps will be included in the lectures/exercises):

Physics:    special relativity (4-vectors, Minkowski spacetime, motion of free particles, lightcones), analytical mechanics (Lagrangian formulation)
Math:      linear algebra (vector spaces, linear maps, dual spaces), multivariable calculus (derivatives, integrals, change of variables), topology (open and closed sets, continuity, topological spaces)
 

Learning Outcomes

General Competencies

Completing this course should enable students to

  • explain main concepts and results in general relativity, Einstein's description of gravity;
  • apply this understanding in practical calculations;
  • understand main aspects of the physics of black holes, gravitational waves;
  • take on more advanced topics in general relativity, black hole physics, cosmology.

Grading

The final grade is composed based on the following categories:
Oral Exam determines 100% of the final mark.

Within the Oral Exam category, the following assignments need to be completed:

  • oral exam with a relative weight of 1 which comprises 100% of the final mark.

    Note: Oral exam with written preparation. Both theory and exercises are part of the exam.

Additional info regarding evaluation

Final grade determined using:

- Oral exam with written preparation. The exam consists of theory as well as exercises.

Allowed unsatisfactory mark
The supplementary Teaching and Examination Regulations of your faculty stipulate whether an allowed unsatisfactory mark for this programme unit is permitted.

Academic context

This offer is part of the following study plans:
Master of Photonics Engineering: On campus traject
Master of Photonics Engineering: Online/Digital traject
Master of Physics and Astronomy: Minor Research
Master of Physics and Astronomy: Minor Economy and Business
Master of Physics and Astronomy: Minor Education
Master of Teaching in Science and Technology: fysica (120 ECTS, Etterbeek) (only offered in Dutch)