Apr 20, 2024  
2020-2021 Undergraduate Catalog 
    
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2020-2021 Undergraduate Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

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ASTR 421 - General Relativity, Black Holes, and Cosmology

3 Credit Hours
An introduction to the general theory of relativity and its application to issues of current interest in astronomy and astrophysics. Topics include a review of special relativity, the equivalence principle and principle of general covariance, the mathematics (tensor calculus) of general relativity, the geometry of spacetime, motion of particles and light in flat and curved spacetime, spherical and rotating black holes, neutron stars and pulsars, gamma-ray bursts, quasars, gravitational waves, and current topics in modern cosmology: dark matter, dark energy, and the expanding and accelerating Universe; the big bang, the cosmic microwave background radiation, the theory of inflation; and the Planck scale and quantum gravity.

Recommended Background: ASTR 151 *-ASTR 152 * or ASTR 218 *; and PHYS 136 * or PHYS 138 *; and PHYS 250 ; or permission of instructor.


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