- Docente: Fiorenzo Bastianelli
- Credits: 6
- SSD: FIS/02
- Language: English
- Teaching Mode: Traditional lectures
- Campus: Bologna
- Corso: Second cycle degree programme (LM) in Astrophysics and Cosmology (cod. 5828)
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from Feb 17, 2025 to May 30, 2025
Learning outcomes
At the end of the course, the student knows the main elements of special relativity and general relativity, the main experimental tests in their support, and the geometric interpretation in terms of spacetime. In particular, the student becomes familiar with relativistic mechanics as well as the use of Einstein's equations for studying gravitational waves, spherically symmetric solutions, and basic properties of black holes.
Course contents
1. Priniciples of special relativity and Lorentz transformations
2. Minkowski spacetime
3. Relativistic dynamics
4. Maxwell's equations in covariant form
5. Equivalence principle and physical foundations of general relativity
6. Curved spaces, Riemannian manifolds, geomety of space-time
7. Dynamics in a gravitational field, Einstein's equations
8. Gravitational waves
9. Schwarzschild metric and black holes
Readings/Bibliography
Lecture notes
S. Weinberg, Gravitation and Cosmology, Wiley, New York, 1972
H. Ohanian and R. Ruffini: Gravitation and Spacetime, CUP, 2013
Teaching methods
Lectures at the blackboard
Assessment methods
Oral exam, approximately 30 minutes in duration
Office hours
See the website of Fiorenzo Bastianelli
SDGs
This teaching activity contributes to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals of the UN 2030 Agenda.