PH21010 - RELATIVITY & MECHANICS

Module Identifier	PH21010
Module Title	RELATIVITY & MECHANICS
Academic Year	2001/2002
Co-ordinator	Dr Eleri Pryse
Semester	Semester 1
Other staff	Dr Keith Birkinshaw
Pre-Requisite	Core Physics Modules at Level 1
Course delivery	Lecture	20 lectures
	Seminars / Tutorials	2 seminars/workshops/exercise classes; 2 tutorials
Assessment	Course work	Example Sheets Example Sheets 1,2,5,6,7 & 10 Deadlines are detailed in the Year 2 Example Sheet Schedule distributed by the Department	30%
	Exam	2 Hours End of Semester Examinations	70%

Module description

Classical mechanics is a very old subject with many of its principles being established by Sir Isaac Newton in the seventeenth century, yet it forms a strong foundation to modern physics. It aims to predict the behaviour of systems on the basis of certain postulates that are tested by experimental evidence. Classical mechancis has proved very successful for bodies moving at low speeds but is unable to describe phenomena involving speeds approaching that of light and in this respect it has been superseded by relativity. The module aims to describe some of the fundamental concepts of classical mechanics, and basic principles of relativity.

Learning outcomes

After taking this module students should be able to:

understand the basic principles of the special and general theories of relativity and be able to answer relevant problems thereon.
understand and answer problems on damped and forced oscillatory systems, simple coupled systems and rotating bodies.
apply Lagrange's equations to simple physical systems.

Outline syllabus

RELATIVITY

Special theory
Lorentz transformation; relativistic interval; Minkowski diagram; causality.
Transformation of velocities.
Relativistic optics: aberration of light; Doppler effect.
Relativistic dynamics: E=mc2; energy-momentum transformations and four-vector.
Compton scattering.

General theory
Inertial and gravitational mass; Principle of Equivalence.
Gravitational redshift; Clocks in a gravitational field.
Einstein's theory of gravity; geodesics; non-Euclidean space-time.
The Schwarzschild solution; black holes.

MECHANICS

Harmonic motion: revision of simple harmonic motion, damped and forced harmonic motion.
Coupled osciallators.
Rotational motion: angular momentum and torque, moment of inertia; conservation of angular momentum, gyroscopic motion.
Introduction to Lagrangian mechanics.

Reading Lists

Books
** Recommended Text
G.R. Fowles and G.L. Cassidy. Analytical Mechanics. Saunders College Publishing 0030223172
** Supplementary Text
A.P. French. Special Relativity. Van Nostrand Reinhold 0442307829
G.F.R. Ellis and R.M. Williams. Flat and Curved Space-Times. Clarendon Press 0198511698