PHYS 515 :: Physics Illinois :: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Schedule

Lectures will take place on Mondays from 17:00pm - 18:20pm and on Wednesdays from 17:10pm - 18:30pm (after the Physics colloquium) in 162 Noyes Laboratory.
Recordings of the lectures will be posted on mediaspace.

Homework sets will be made available on Wednesdays before the lecture, starting in week 2, on this website. They are due on the following Wednesday before 11:55pm Central US and they have to be submitted via my.physics.
In general, you are allowed to use computer algebra software, like Maple or Mathematica, unless stated otherwise. If you do use computer algebra software, together with your PDF solution, you must provide a well-formatted print out of your code. Under no circumstances are you allowed to use a computer algebra package, such as grTensor or xTensor, to calculate tensorial quantities.

During the Lecture you will engage with the material by answering conceptual questions via Gradescope, Entry code: K3X8X8. This will give you bonus points for the course.

If you have any issues logging in to view any of the secured documents below, please try adding "uofi\" (without the quotes) in front of your netid.

For details on semester dates, registration deadlines, etc. please check the Academic calendar.

Week Date Lecture Homework
1 Mo 01/16/2023 Martin Luther King Jr. Day
no classes
 
We 01/18/2023 Introduction to class
L1. Special Relativity
 
2 Mo 01/23/2023 L2. Special relativity  
We 01/25/2023 L3. Lorentz transformations HW 1 assigned
HW 1 solution
3 Mo 01/30/2023 L4. Vectors  
We 02/01/2023 L5. 1-forms and Tensors HW 1 due
HW 2 assigned
HW 2 solution
4 Mo 02/06/2023 L6. Tensors
Physics in flat spacetimes
 
We 02/08/2023 L7. Physics in flat spacetimes
notes
HW 2 due
HW 3 assigned
HW 3 solution
5 Mo 02/13/2023 L8. Manifolds  
We 02/15/2023 L9.Manifolds HW 3 due (extended by 1 day)
HW 4 assigned
HW 4 solution
6 Mo 02/20/2023 L10. Tensors in curved spacetimes  
We 02/22/2023 L11. Tensors in curved spacetimes HW 4 due
HW 5 assigned
HW 5 solution
7 Mo 02/27/2023 L12. Covariant derivatives  
We 03/01/2023 L13. Geodesics HW 5 due
No homework assigned
Paper review instructions
8 Mo 03/06/2023 L14. Riemann curvature  
We 03/08/2023 L15. Symmetries Paper review due
No homework due
HW 6 assigned
HW 6 solution
9 03/11/2023 -- 03/19/2023 Spring Break  
10 Mo 03/20/2023 L16. Gravitation  
We 03/22/2023 L17. Einstein's Equations HW 6 due
HW 7 assigned
HW 7 solution
11 Mo 03/27/2023 L18. Lagrangian formulation  
We 03/29/2023 L19. Properties of Einstein's Equations HW 7 due
HW 8 assigned
HW 8 solution
12 Mo 04/03/2023 L20. The Schwarzschild metric  
We 04/05/2023 L21. Geodesics of the Schwarzschild metric HW 8 due
HW 9 assigned
HW 9 solution
13 Mo 04/10/2023 L22. Black holes  
We 04/12/2023 L23. Black holes HW 9 due
HW 10 + 11 assigned
HW 10 +11 solution
14 Mo 04/17/2023 APS April Meeting  
We 04/19/2023 L24. Neutron stars no homework
due this week
15 Mo 04/24/2023 L25. Gravitational Waves  
We 04/26/2023 L26. Gravitational waves HW 10 + 11 due
Note: Long homework!
HW 12 assigned
HW 12 solution
16 Mo 05/01/2023 L27. Cosmology  
We 05/03/2023 L28. Cosmology HW 12 due
Th 05/04/2023 Reading Day
Fr 05/05/2023 -- Mo 05/08/2023 Final Exam