Special relativity
4 points * First semester * Clayton * Prerequisites: MAT2010, MAA2011 and MAA2032 * Prohibitions: ASP3121
Objectives On the completion of this subject students will have an overview of the history of the development of special relativity; be able to draw and understand spacetime diagrams; understand the problems of any concept of `absolute time'; develop k-calculus and study its use in special relativity; see the Minkowski metric and study its invariance using Lorentz transformations; understand the concepts of `time dilation' and `Lorentz contractions'; see how vector analysis is developed in a spacetime setting; solve problems involving energy and 4-momentum.
Synopsis Special relativity. The geometry of spacetime. K-calculus. Lorentz transformations. Time dilation, Lorentz contraction. Vector analysis in spacetime. Four momentum. Physics of spacetime, momentum and energy.
Assessment Examinations (1.5 hours): 85% * Assignments: 15%
Recommended texts
d'Inverno R Introducing Einstein's relativity OUP, 1992
Taylor E F and Wheeler J A Spacetime physics: Introduction to special relativity 2nd edn, Freeman, 1992
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