Physics 131: General Relativity

Spring 2011

Lectures MWF 9:00 - 9:50 in Building 387 room 104

 	Professor: Gary Horowitz
        	Office Hours: Monday 1:30-3:00 in Broida 6239. 

	TA: Curtis Asplund      email: casplund@physics.ucsb.edu
        	Office Hours: Tues. and Wed. 2:00-3:30 in PSR (Broida 1019)

	Textbook: Gravity: An Introduction to Einstein's General Relativity  by James Hartle.  I plan to cover chapters
	4-9, 12, 13, and 17-19.  We are skipping the first three chapters: Chapter 1 is a brief overview of the whole subject; 
	Chapter 2 is a review of basic notions of geometry; Chapter 3 is a review of Newtonian gravity. Use these chapters
	as needed. The author maintains a website for the book, which has errata and some mathematica programs.

	Homework: There will be weekly homework assignments that will be posted every Wednesday 
         and due by Wednesday 5pm one week later in the homework box on the first floor of Broida.
   
 	 Midterm: There will be one midterm on Friday, May 6. It is a closed book exam, but you can bring one
	 8 1/2 x 11in sheet of paper with notes on both sides. It will cover chapters 4-8. Solutions
	
	 Final: The final will be on Wednesday, June 8, 8:00-11:00am. It is a closed book exam, but you can bring
	 two 8 1/2 x 11in sheets of paper with notes on both sides.
   
	Grading: The homework will count 30%, the midterm with count 25% and the final will count 45%.