Special Relativity
Classical physics describes the motions of large things moving at slow speeds. That description of the universe, which physicists used to describe the motion of objects from apples to planets for hundreds of years, does not hold for objects moving very fast. In this class, we will look at how traveling close to the speed of light affects the physical properties of objects. Amazingly, simple quantities such as length, time, and mass change dramatically when an object is traveling a significant fraction of the speed of light.
Textbook: Spacetime Physics (2nd Edition) by Taylor and Wheeler
The planned schedule for the course is given below. Note that the “Problem Sets” column will be updated with the most recent problem sets as the term goes on.
| Week of | Topic | Reading | Problem Sets |
| February 17 | Spacetime Interval | Ch. 1 | Problem Set 1 |
| February 24 | Spacetime, Frames, and Simultaneity | Ch. 2 & 3 | Problem Set 2 |
| March 3 | Lorentz Transformations (Geometric + Algebraic) | Geometric Ch. “L” | Problem Set 3 |
| March 10 | Lorentz Transformations (No Thursday Class) | Ch. “L” | |
| March 17 | Twin Paradox + Regions of Spacetime | Ch. 4, 5, 6 Minute Physics Twin Paradox | Problem Set 4 Graph Paper |
| March 24 | Regions of Spacetime/Momenergy | Ch. 7 & 8 | |
| March 31 | Basics of General Relativity / Exam | Ch. 9 |
