HPS 0410	Einstein for Everyone	Fall 2008

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Schedule

Revision: December 8, 2008

Week	Lecture Date	Recitation Date	Lecture Topic	Assignment Due	Test
1	Mon. Aug. 25		Introduction: the questions.
		Mon. Aug. 25 Tues. Aug. 26 Wed. Aug. 27		1. The Wild and the Wonderful
	Wed. Aug. 27		Special relativity: the basics.
2	Mon. Sep. 1	Mon. Sep. 1 What about my assignment?	Labor Day. University closed.
		Tues. Sep. 2 Wed. Sep. 3		2. Principle of Relativity
	Wed. Sep. 3		Special relativity: the basics.
	Fri. Sep. 5.Add/drop ends
3	Mon. Sep. 8		Is special relativity paradoxical?
		Mon. Sep. 8 Tues. Sep. 9 Wed. Sep. 10		3. Relativity of Simultaneity
	Wed. Sep. 10		E=mc²
4	Mon. Sep. 15		Origins of special relativity
		Mon. Sep 15 Tues. Sep. 16 Wed. Sep. 17		4. Energy, Mass and Adding Velocities
	Wed. Sep. 17		Origins of special relativity /Spacetime		Test 1 What is it on? Grades
5	Mon. Sep. 22		Spacetime
		Mon. Sep. 22 Tues. Sep. 23 Wed. Sep. 24		5. Origins of Special Relativity
	Wed. Sep. 24		Spacetime
6	Mon. Sep 29		What is a four dimensional space like? Philosophical significance of relativity
		Mon. Sep. 29 Tues. Sep. 30 Wed. Oct. 1		6. Spacetime
	Wed. Oct. 1		Philosophical significance of relativity		Test 2 What is it on? Grades
7	Mon. Oct. 6		Non-Euclidean geometry
		Mon. Oct. 6 Tues. Oct. 7 Wed. Oct. 8		7. Philosophical Significance
	Wed. Oct. 8		Non-Euclidean geometry
8	Mon. Oct. 13		Monday classes rescheduled to Tuesday. Tuesday classes cancelled. What about my assignment?
	Tues. Oct 14		Non-Euclidean geometry Spaces of Variable Curvature
		Mon. Oct. 13 class meets on Tues Oct. 14 Wed. Oct. 15		8. Non-Euclidean Geometry
	Wed. Oct. 15.		General relativity		Test 3 What is it on? Grades
9	Mon. Oct. 20		General relativity
		Mon. Oct. 20 Tues. Oct. 21 Wed. Oct. 22		9. Curvature
	Wed. Oct. 22		General relativity
10	Mon. Oct. 27		Relativistic cosmology
		Mon. Oct. 27 Tues. Oct. 28 Wed. Oct. 29		10. General Relativity
	Wed. Oct. 29		Relativistic cosmology		Test 4 What is it on? Grades
11	Mon. Nov. 3		Big bang cosmology
		Mon. Nov. 3 Tues. Nov. 4 Wed. Nov. 5		11. Relativistic Cosmology
	Wed. Nov. 5		Big bang cosmology/ Black holes
12	Mon. Nov. 10		Black holes
		Mon. Nov. 10 Tues. Nov. 11 Wed. Nov. 12 Term paper topic submitted		12. Big Bang Cosmology
	Wed. Nov. 12		A Better Picture of Black Holes		Test 5 What is it on? Grades
13	Mon. Nov. 17		A Better Picture of Black Holes
		Mon. Nov. 17 Tues. Nov. 18 Wed. Nov. 19		13. Black Holes
	Wed. Nov. 19		Origins of Quantum Theory
14	Mon. Nov. 24		Origins of Quantum Theory/Problems of Quantum Theory
		Mon. Nov. 24 Tues. Nov. 25 Mon. Dec. 1		14. Origins of Quantum Theory
	Wed. Nov. 26	Wed. Nov. 26 What about my assignment?	Thanksgiving Recess
15	Mon. Dec. 1		Problems of Quantum Theory
		Mon. Dec. 1 Tues. Dec. 2 Wed. Dec. 3		15. Problems of Quantum Theory
	Wed. Dec. 3	Term paper due	Problems of Quantum Theory		Test 6 What is it on? Grades

Test 1. Wednesday September 17. The test will be in the first 15 minutes of class and will consist of 3-4 questions requiring answers of a few sentences each. The material examinable is the content of the chapters "Special relativity: the basics" and "Is special relativity paradoxical?" and the assignments 2-4.

Test 2. Wednesday October 1. The material examinable is the content of the chapters "Origins of Special Relativity" and "Spacetime" and the assignments 5 and 6.

Test 3. Wednesday October 15. The material examinable is the content of the chapters "Philosophical Significance of Relativity" and "Non-Euclidean Geometry" and the assignments 7 and 8.

Test 4. Wednesday October 29. The material examinable is the content of the chapters "Spaces of Variable Curvature" and "General Relativity" and the assignments 9 and 10.

Test 5. Wednesday November 12. The material examinable is the content of the chapters "Relativistic Cosmology" and "Big Bang Cosmology" and the assignments 11 and 12.

Test 6. Wednesday December 3. The material examinable is the content of the chapters "Black Holes," "A Better Picture of Black Holes" and "Origins of Quantum Theory" and the assignments 13 and 14.