Sessions

Morning: 9:00 - 11:30 AM, Hewlett 101
Afternoon: 12:30 - 3:30 PM, at residences (except July 11)

Textbooks

These will be distributed on the first day of class and are yours to keep. Readings from these will be assigned throughout the course.

David Morin, Special Relativity for the Enthusiastic Beginner
Robert Geroch, Relativity from A to B
Albert Einstein, Relativity: The Special and General Theory

Approximate schedule

Schedule is subject to reordering and change, and will be updated as we go along.

Day #	Date	Description	Readings
1	6/25	Introduction, inertial frames, spacetime events	Morin Appendix E,F
		Review of vectors, Problem Set 0 [solutions]
2	6/26	Postulates of SR, time dilation, length contraction, relativity of simultaneity	Morin 1.2 - 1.3
		Longitudinal light clock, length contraction, practice problems
3	6/27	Spacetime diagrams, pole-and-barn paradox, twin paradox	Morin 2.4, Appendix C
		Practice problems
4	6/28	Lorentz transformations, velocity addition, boosts vs rotations	Morin 1.5, 2.1
		Derivations, finish up problem set 1 [solutions] and 2 [solutions]
5	7/1	Causality, spacetime interval	Morin 1.1, 2.3, Einstein 7-9
		Historical context and development of SR
6	7/2	Four vectors, E = mc^2	Morin 3.1 - 3.4
		Practice problems, problem set 3 [solutions]
7	7/3	SR review, index notation
		Physics department lab/office tour
8	7/4	Introduction to General Relativity (GR), warped spacetime, equivalence principle	Morin 5.1 - 5.2
		Twin paradox revisited, equivalence principle
9	7/5	Index notation review, metrics, curvature	Geroch 5-6
		Discuss and begin working on final project
10	7/8	Einstein's equation, geodesics, black holes	Geroch 7-8
		Work on final project
11	7/9	Black holes and higher dimensions 10:15AM: Guest speaker lecture on "The Black Hole Information Paradox" [slides]
		Work on final project
12	7/10	Black holes, higher dimensions, gravitational waves
		Work on final project
13	7/11	Cosmology, wrap up [Course packet (Special Relativity) solutions] [Course packet (General Relativity) solutions]
		Note new location: 240-101 Final presentations Receive Certificate of Completion

Books and resources

Feynman Lectures on Physics: [http://www.feynmanlectures.caltech.edu/]
Spacetime Physics, by Taylor and Wheeler - intuition for SR
Exploring Black Holes, by Taylor and Wheeler - intuition for GR
Spacetime and Geometry, by Carroll - GR courses
The First Three Minutes, by Weinberg - Cosmology
Introduction to Quantum Mechanics, by Shankar

Words of Advice

Assessment: There are no grades for this class. After the course, you will receive a "narrative evaluation", a letter written by the instructor commenting on your efforts to understand and challenge yourself with the course material and to contribute positively to the course community. We hope you take this opportunity to let yourself be curious, challenge yourself, and not worry at all about grades. We only ask that you help create a collaborative learning environment by fostering mutual respect and courtesy among your peers and teachers.
When collaborating with others (now and in the future), it is important that you understand (and can reproduce on your own) all the work that comes out of the group. A good approach is to make sure you are able to explain whatever you have written down to someone else.

Final thoughts: It is impossible to learn Relativity in 13 days. Remember that the Theory of Relativity is one of the big triumphs of humanity. This class will give you a glimpse into the subject, and hopefully inspire you to dive deep into it in the future. The fact that we have so little time, and yet so much to learn, means this will necessarily be challenging.
As such, we would like to remind you that each and every single one of you deserves to be here. If something seems confusing, that's completely natural! Treat your peers and teachers as resources. Anyone can pick up a textbook to study Relativity themselves, but not everyone has the opportunity to dive deep in the company of like-minded peers and teachers.