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DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2014/2015
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DRPS : Course Catalogue : School of Mathematics : Mathematics

Undergraduate Course: Geometry of General Relativity (MATH11138)

Course Outline
SchoolSchool of Mathematics CollegeCollege of Science and Engineering
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 11 (Year 5 Undergraduate) AvailabilityAvailable to all students
SCQF Credits10 ECTS Credits5
SummaryEinstein's theory of General Relativity is the geometric theory of gravitation. This course is a modern introduction to this cornerstone of mathematical physics, formulated in the language of differential geometry.
Course description - Basic notions of pseudo-Riemannian geometry (metric, connection,
curvature tensors, geodesics, isometries, Killing vector fields)
- Minkowski spacetime and special relativity
- Postulates of General Relativity (equivalence principles, general covariance)
- Einstein's equations and the energy-momentum tensor
- Schwarzschild solution
- Birkhoff's theorem
- Cosmological solutions
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Students MUST have passed: Honours Differential Equations (MATH10066) AND Honours Algebra (MATH10069) AND Geometry (MATH10074)
Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Other requirements Students are strongly recommended to also attend MATH10088 Differentiable Manifolds, see http://www.drps.ed.ac.uk/14-15/dpt/cxmath10088.htm
Information for Visiting Students
Pre-requisitesNone
Course Delivery Information
Academic year 2014/15, Available to all students (SV1) Quota:  None
Course Start Semester 2
Timetable Timetable
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) Total Hours: 100 ( Lecture Hours 22, Seminar/Tutorial Hours 5, Summative Assessment Hours 2, Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 2, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 69 )
Assessment (Further Info) Written Exam 95 %, Coursework 5 %, Practical Exam 0 %
Additional Information (Assessment) Coursework 5%, Examination 95%
Feedback Not entered
No Exam Information
Learning Outcomes
- Perform local calculations in differential geometry: covariant derivatives, curvature and tensor calculations
- Explain the postulates of General Relativity
- Derive geodesic equations in a given spacetime and solve them in special cases
- Identify spacetime isometries and verify Killing's equation in simple examples
- Verify that simple spacetimes solve Einstein equations
Reading List
Recommended:
An Introduction to General Relativity, L.P Hughston and K.P. Tod (LMS, CUP, 1990)

General Relativity, R. M. Wald, University of Chicago Press (1984)
Additional Information
Graduate Attributes and Skills Not entered
KeywordsGGR
Contacts
Course organiserDr James Lucietti
Tel: (0131 6)51 7179
Email: J.Lucietti@ed.ac.uk		 Course secretaryMrs Alison Fairgrieve
Tel: (0131 6)50 5045
Email: Alison.Fairgrieve@ed.ac.uk
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