EP 207 Introduction to Special Theory of Relativity (Autumn 2016-17)
Instructor Name: Prof. Raghunath Chelakkot
Course Type: Core
Pre-requisites: Formal: None; Informal: PH 108 (Maxwell's equations)
Course Content: Principle of relativity, Lorenz transformation, relativistic kinematics and mechanics, energy-momentum 4-vector, electromagnetic theory, tensors
Other Topics Covered: Concept of invariant interval, Minkowski spacetime, addition of relativistic velocities, conservation of energy and momentum, mass-energy equivalence, basics of tensor analysis, electromagnetic theory in terms of the field tensor
Books: Spacetime physics (Wheeler and Taylor), Introduction to STR (Resnick), Mathematical Methods for Physicists (Arfken) [for theory of tensors], Schaum's Outline of Vector Analysis [for problems from tensors]
Lectures: No formal attendance policy, mostly blackboard teaching method was followed, exams were based largely on content covered in the lectures
Assignments: Ungraded tutorials, mixed bag of easy and hard problems
Exams and Grading: 1 quiz (15%) and 1 Midsem (35%)
Online materials: 1. Solution to problems in spacetime physics (http://www.eftaylor.com/pub/spacetime/STP1stEdExercSolns.pdf)
2. A short introduction to tensors by R. A. Sharipov (https://arxiv.org/pdf/math/0403252.pdf)
Follow up courses: General Relativity (PH 544), classical field theory (not sure if there's a course in our department on this)
Course Type: Core
Pre-requisites: Formal: None; Informal: PH 108 (Maxwell's equations)
Course Content: Principle of relativity, Lorenz transformation, relativistic kinematics and mechanics, energy-momentum 4-vector, electromagnetic theory, tensors
Other Topics Covered: Concept of invariant interval, Minkowski spacetime, addition of relativistic velocities, conservation of energy and momentum, mass-energy equivalence, basics of tensor analysis, electromagnetic theory in terms of the field tensor
Books: Spacetime physics (Wheeler and Taylor), Introduction to STR (Resnick), Mathematical Methods for Physicists (Arfken) [for theory of tensors], Schaum's Outline of Vector Analysis [for problems from tensors]
Lectures: No formal attendance policy, mostly blackboard teaching method was followed, exams were based largely on content covered in the lectures
Assignments: Ungraded tutorials, mixed bag of easy and hard problems
Exams and Grading: 1 quiz (15%) and 1 Midsem (35%)
Online materials: 1. Solution to problems in spacetime physics (http://www.eftaylor.com/pub/spacetime/STP1stEdExercSolns.pdf)
2. A short introduction to tensors by R. A. Sharipov (https://arxiv.org/pdf/math/0403252.pdf)
Follow up courses: General Relativity (PH 544), classical field theory (not sure if there's a course in our department on this)
Pro-Tips: Two things are absolutely essential in understanding the course: One is getting the two basic postulates of relativity clear; and, for the second part of the course (on electromagnetism), understanding how to handle tensors, especially w.r.t. algebraic manipulations
Personal Comments: Spacetime physics by Wheeler and Taylor is a must-read in order to get a feel for relativity, before formally studying it from Resnick or any other textbook
Respondent: Arkya Chatterjee
Personal Comments: Spacetime physics by Wheeler and Taylor is a must-read in order to get a feel for relativity, before formally studying it from Resnick or any other textbook
Respondent: Arkya Chatterjee
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