Professor Andrew J. S. Hamilton
JILA, room A706
Tel: 492-7833
email: Andrew.Hamilton@colorado.edu
This is a course in Relativity and Cosmology for non-science students who have taken APAS 1020, 1040, or 1120. The treatment will be qualititative, not mathematical. The course fulfills part B of the Natural Science Core. The course does not count toward an APAS minor --- such students should take APAS 3740.
1. Special & General Relativity, Black Holes
The first half of this course will concentrate on Einstein's Theory of Special and General Relativity, and its application to Black Holes. We will explore stellar black holes in our own Galaxy, and supermassive black holes in Quasars and other Active Galactic Nuclei.
2. Cosmology
The second half of the course will focus on Modern Cosmology, the origin and structure of the Universe as a whole. We will discover the discoveries which are leading to modern understanding: the expansion of the Universe, the Cosmic Microwave Background, the primordial nucleosynthesis of the light elements, Dark Matter. We will learn about speculative theories of Inflation, and the Universe during the first few moments after the Big Bang.
TEXT
Kip S. Thorne ``Black Holes & Time Warps: Einstein's Outrageous Legacy'' 1994, Norton.
N. S. Herrington (Editor) ``Cosmology: Historical, Literary, Philosophical, Religious, & Scientific Perspectives'' 1995, Garland Publishing.
updated 02/18/97