Undergraduate Course: Dynamics and Relativity (PHYS09014)

Course Outline
School	School of Physics and Astronomy	College	College of Science and Engineering
Course type	Standard	Availability	Available to all students
Credit level (Normal year taken)	SCQF Level 9 (Year 3 Undergraduate)	Credits	10
Home subject area	Undergraduate (School of Physics and Astronomy)	Other subject area	None
Course website	http://www2.ph.ed.ac.uk/teaching/course-notes/notes/list/62	Taught in Gaelic?	No
Course description	This course emphasises frames of reference in discussing the classical mechanics of particles. It starts with a review of Newtonian mechanics, the importance of inertial frames and the classical description of collisions and scattering processes. Non-inertial frames are introduced, leading to a discussion of the centrifugal and Coriolis forces. There follows a substantial section on Special Relativity, which introduces Lorentz transformations, Minkowski spacetime, relativistic kinematics, and the application of four-vector methods to particle collisions and decays. The course concludes with an introduction to General Relativity through a discussion of the equivalence principle, and the idea of curved spacetime.

Entry Requirements
Pre-requisites	Students MUST have passed: Foundations of Mathematical Physics (PHYS08024) OR ( MP2A: Vectors, Tensors and Fields (PHYS08032) AND MP2B: Dynamics (PHYS08033)) OR ( Applicable Mathematics 4 (Phys Sci) (MATH08017) AND Mathematical Methods 4 (Phys Sci) (MATH08018)) Students MUST have passed: Physics 2A: Forces, Fields & Potentials (PHYS08022) AND Physics 2B: Waves, Quantum Physics and Materials (PHYS08023)	Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations		Other requirements	None
Additional Costs	None

Information for Visiting Students
Pre-requisites	None
Displayed in Visiting Students Prospectus?	Yes

Course Delivery Information

Delivery period: 2010/11 Semester 1, Available to all students (SV1)						WebCT enabled: No		Quota: None
Location	Activity	Description	Weeks	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
King's Buildings	Lecture		1-11	09:00 - 09:50
King's Buildings	Lecture		1-11				09:00 - 09:50
King's Buildings	Tutorial		3-5,7-11			09:00 - 10:50
First Class	Week 1, Monday, 09:00 - 09:50, Zone: King's Buildings. JCMB
Additional information	Workshop/tutorial sessions, as arranged.
Exam Information
Exam Diet	Paper Name		Hours:Minutes	Stationery Requirements		Comments
Main Exam Diet S2 (April/May)			2:00	16 sides
Resit Exam Diet (August)			2:00	16 sides

Delivery period: 2010/11 Semester 1, Part-year visiting students only (VV1)						WebCT enabled: No		Quota: None
Location	Activity	Description	Weeks	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
King's Buildings	Lecture		1-11	09:00 - 09:50
King's Buildings	Lecture		1-11				09:00 - 09:50
King's Buildings	Tutorial		3-5,7-11			09:00 - 10:50
First Class	Week 1, Monday, 09:00 - 09:50, Zone: King's Buildings. JCMB
Additional information	Workshop/tutorial sessions, as arranged.
Exam Information
Exam Diet	Paper Name		Hours:Minutes	Stationery Requirements		Comments
Main Exam Diet S1 (December)			2:00	16 sides

Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of this course it is intended that a student will be able to: 1)state the definition of an 'inertial frame', understand the virtues of using the 'Lab' and 'Centre of Mass' frames and exploit them in problem-solving by means of the Galilean transformation 2)Apply appropriate conservation laws to two particle scattering problems, and hence determine scattering trajectories, differential cross-sections and total cross-sections; 3)Explain the occurrence of 'fictitious forces' in accelerating reference frames; 4)Interpret and apply formulae for the centrifugal and coriolis forces in a rotating frame' 5)State the postulates of Special Relativity and discuss their implications for 'simultaneity'; 6)State the Lorentz transformation and demonstrate the utility of Minkowski diagrams; 7)Apply the Lorentz transformation in problem solving and use it to derive time dilation, length contraction and velocity addition formulae; 8)State the definition of 4-vectors, demonstrate the Lorentz invariance of their scalar products and appreciate their significance in the context of causality; 9)Apply the 4-vector formulation of relativistic dynamics to particle decays and relativistic collisions; 10)Discuss 'Equivalence' and space-time curvature, and derive the gravitational Doppler shift formula.

Assessment Information
Coursework, 10% Degree Examination, 90% Visiting Student Variant Assessment Coursework, 10% Degree Examination, 90%

Special Arrangements
None

Contacts
Course organiser	Dr Jamie Cole Tel: (0131 6)50 5999 Email: R.J.Cole@ed.ac.uk	Course secretary	Miss Laura Gonzalez-Rienda Tel: (0131 6)51 7067 Email: l.gonzalez@ed.ac.uk