Session 2008--9
The PDF files below are intended to be printed out on a double-sided printer; the nearby links marked `ss' are for printing out on a single-sided printer; the links `scr' are versions intended to be read on-screen.
As an experiment, I'm making available audio versions of the lectures, that is, a podcast. Please do let me know how you get on. I'm interested in whether you use these recordings, how, when, why, where, plus any other feedback that occurs to you.
If you have any problems with the feed, or with the enclosed MP3 files, do let me know fairly urgently.
In case it's useful, I've also made available the recordings of the lectures from the last time I gave this course, in session 2006–7. They won't perfectly match this year, but the notes are almost identical, and the coverage very much the same.
There's an Atom feed for the files in this directory, so you can be promptly informed of when files change. That's at
http://www.astro.gla.ac.uk/users/norman/lectures/A345GR/feed.atom
From this page you can download the notes for each of the four blocks of the General Relativity course. These four blocks are
In the lectures, I will presume that you have already printed out the relevant part, and at least looked over them. You will not need to, and indeed should not expect to, understand things first time, but this preliminary scan should give you an indication of what bits of the lecture you need to pay special attention to. Having said that, don't be in a rush to print out everything – as I spot typos or other infelicities, I will occasionally adjust the notes as distributed here.
If anyone needs special versions of these notes (with large print or in particular colours for example), I can surely produce those very easily – let me know.
The `dangerous bend' symbol
introducing certain paragraphs is intended
to indicate passages you might want to skip on a first reading. They
typically contain technical detail for the curious reader, or subtle
points which are interesting but might distract from the flow of the
arguments, or even alternative ways of thinking about the material
around them. Think of them as extended footnotes. The material in
these paragraphs is not examinable.
I am distributing these notes as PDF files: you should be able to read and print these out without difficulty, but if you have any trouble, mail me and let me know.
I've gathered together into a single document, all the examples which appeared in the various parts of the course, at the same time amplifying or adding the notes for those examples.
Not every single problem has an answer. Some problems lead you through themselves in sufficient detail that (I think) they don't need further notes. The questions are not necessarily in the best order, with easier ones before harder ones; I think they're about right, but on this, as well as on the problems selected for fuller answers, I'd welcome comments.
Obligatory rant: Solving problems like these is very valuable, since it forces you to think through the sometimes rather tricky material which they illustrate; sometimes, indeed, there are aspects of detail which only become clear when you try them out on a problem. However, the questions are useful only if you work through them yourself, and so the notes added here are intended only to help you when you get stuck, to allow you to check the answer you've obtained, or to add further details. There is less than no point in looking at the answers before you've attempted the question yourself. You will think `yes, that makes sense; I would have written that', and be filled with illusory confidence.
$Log$ Revision 1.37 2008/12/16 12:23:05 norman More smallish adjustments, tidying off the course for this year Revision 1.36 2008/11/13 14:38:12 norman Updates for 2008 Revision 1.35 2008/10/17 21:21:38 norman Fix pointer to stylesheet Revision 1.34 2008/10/17 18:53:32 norman Add pointers to overheads, quick-questions, and notation crib sheet Revision 1.33 2008/10/08 13:09:27 norman The subheading for podcasts shouldn't really point to the feed Revision 1.32 2008/10/06 10:45:37 norman Add Atom feed for the lecture notes, and restore HTML links to podcast Revision 1.31 2008/10/02 08:44:03 norman Part 2 updates for publication to web Revision 1.30 2008/09/22 10:18:08 norman There's always _some_ last-minute fix required...