HPS 0410	Einstein for Everyone	Spring 2015

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Schedule

Week	Lecture Date	Recitation Date	Lecture Topic	Assignment Due	Test

1	Mon. Jan. 5		Introduction: the questions.
		Mon. Jan. 5 Tues. Jan. 6		0. Warm Up Exercise (No submission, not for credit)
	Wed. Jan. 7		Special Relativity: the Principles Special Relativity: Clocks and Rods
2	Mon. Jan. 12		Special relativity: adding velocities. Relativity of simultaneity
		Mon Jan. 12 Tues. Jan. 13		1. Principle of relativity.
	Wed. Jan. 14		Is special relativity paradoxical?
3	NO CLASS Mon. Jan.19. Martin Luther King Day	Submitting assignments due on Monday
		Tues. Jan. 20		2. Relativity of Simultaneity
	Wed. Jan. 21		E=mc²
4	Mon. Jan. 26		Origins of special relativity Einstein's Pathway to Special Relativity
		Mon. Jan. 26 Tues. Jan. 27		3. E=mc²
	Wed. Jan. 28		Spacetime Spacetime and the Relativity of Simultaneity		Test 1 What is it on? Grades
5	Mon. Feb. 2		Spacetime and the Relativity of Simultaneity Spacetime, Tachyons, Twins and Clocks
		Mon. Feb. 2 Tues. Feb. 3		4. Origins of Special Relativity
	Wed. Feb. 4		Skeptical Morals. Morals About Theory and Evidence.
6	Mon. Feb. 9		Morals About Theory and Evidence. Morals About Time.
		Mon. Feb. 9 Tues. Feb. 10		5. Spacetime
	Wed. Feb. 11		Euclidean Geometry: The First Great Science Euclid's Fifth Postulate Non-Euclidean Geometry: A Sample Construction Non-Euclidean Geometry and Curved Spaces		Test 2 What is it on? Grades
7	Mon. Feb. 16		Spaces of Constant Curvature Spaces of Variable Curvature
		Mon. Feb. 16 Tues. Feb. 17		6. Philosophical Significance
	Wed. Feb. 18		General relativity
8	Mon. Feb. 23		General relativity Gravity Near a Massive Body
		Mon. Feb. 23 Tues.Feb. 24		7. Curvature
	Wed. Feb. 25		Einstein's Pathway to General Relativity		Test 3 What is it on? Grades
9	Mon. Mar. 2		Relativistic cosmology
		Mon. Mar. 2 Tues. Mar. 3		8. General Relativity
	Wed. Mar. 4		Relativistic cosmology Time Travel Universes
	SPRING BREAK
10	Mon. Mar. 16		Our Universe: What We See Big bang cosmology
		Mon. Mar. 16 Tues. Mar. 17		9. Relativistic Cosmology
	Wed. Mar. 18		Big bang cosmology Must There Have Been a Big Bang? Black holes		Test 4 What is it on? Grades
11	Mon. Mar. 23		Black holes
		Mon. Mar. 23 Tues. Mar. 24 Term paper topic submitted		10. Big Bang Cosmology
	Wed. Mar. 25		A Better Picture of Black Holes
12	Mon. Mar. 30		A Better Picture of Black Holes
		Mon. Mar. 30 Tues. Mar. 31		11. Black Holes
	Wed. Apr. 1		Origins of Quantum Theory		Test 5 What is it on? Grades
13	Mon. Apr. 6		Origins of Quantum Theory
		Mon. Apr. 6 Tues. Apr. 7		12. Origins of Quantum Theory
	Wed. Apr. 8		Quantum Theory of Waves and Particles
14	Mon. Apr. 13		The Measurement Problem
		Mon. Apr. 13 Tues. Apr.14		13. Problems of Quantum Theory
	Wed. Apr. 15	Term paper due	Einstein on the Completeness of Quantum Theory		Test 6 What is it on? Grades

Test 1. Wednesday January 28. 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," "Special relativity: adding velocities," "Relativity of simultaneity," "Is special relativity paradoxical?" "E=mc²" and the assignments 1,2 and 3.

Test 2. Wednesday February 11. The material examinable is the content of the chapters "Origins of Special Relativity," "Einstein's Pathway to Special Relativity," the three "Spacetime" chapters and the assignments 4 and 5.

Test 3. Wednesday February 25. The material examinable is the content of the chapters: "Philosophical Significance of Relativity," the non-Euclidean geometry chapters; the two chapters on curvature; and the assignments 6 and 7.

Test 4. Wednesday March 18. The material examinable is the content of the chapters "General Relativity," "Gravity Near a Massive Body," "Einstein's Pathway to General Relativity," "Relativistic Cosmology," "Time Travel Universes" and the assignments 8 and 9.

Test 5. Wednesday April 1. The material examinable is the content of the chapters "Our Universe: What We See, " "Big Bang Cosmology," "Must There Have Been a Big Bang?" "Black Holes," "A Better Picture of Black Holes" and the assignments 10 and 11.

Test 6. Wednesday April 15. The material examinable is the content of the chapters "Origins of Quantum Theory," "Quantum Theory of Waves and Particles," "The Measurement Problem" and the assignments 12 and 13.