Portal:General relativity

General Relativity Topic within the Astrophysics department

=Topic description= General relativity (GR) is an advanced topic within the department of Astrophysics and requires a high level of knowledge in calculus, algebra and physics in general. Tensor fields are a critical part of general relativity.

Prerequisites

 * Topic:Special relativity (SR) - the spacetimes of GR have the spacetime of SR as a limiting case at a point in spacetime, so you must first understand SR
 * Topic:Differential geometry - you need to understand tensors, tensor fields and differential geometry in general in order to understand GR; elements of these are frequently taught within a GR course as an alternative to a full differential geometry course

Courses

 * Special relativity and steps towards general relativity (shortcut: SRepsilonGR)
 * this course includes a few elements towards elementary general relativity
 * Cosmology
 * twentieth/twenty-first cosmology is one of the main applications of general relativity

Lectures

 * General relativity
 * Introduction to general relativity
 * Inveiling the breakdown of Euclidean geometry in linearized general relativity

Learning Projects
See: Learning Projects and the Learning model.

Learning materials and learning projects can be used by multiple departments. Cooperate with other departments that use the same learning resource.
 * Tensors
 * Tensors Differential Forms and Variational Principles
 * Tidal Forces

Relevant topics: Covariance, Vectors/ Fields, Tensor Calculus, Euler-Lagrange equations, Equivalence principle, Curvature, Riemann Tensor, Gravitational Waves

Problem Reviews

 * Tensors Differential Forms and Variational Principles

External learning resources

 * The website for a GR class taught at Caltech by Kip Thorne and Lee Lindblom. Contains problems, solutions and some lecture notes.
 * The first of a sequence of videos of lectures of an "Introduction to General Relativity" class taught by Kip Thorne.
 * "Lecture Notes on General Relativity" by Sean Carroll. Coincidentally the basis for his book.
 * The General Relativity Tutorial, John Baez: online tutorials and reading list.

Wikipedia

 * Exact solutions in general relativity category
 * Deriving the Schwarzschild solution

Relativité générale