General Relativity Autumn 2024

Lecture Notes, Exercises, Solutions, and more ...

The most recent and up-do-date information about this course will always be available here!

The Course and Lectures: How and When and Where

General Information:
- There is no need to register for this course, but if you are going to take part please send me an email (blau at itp unibe ch) so that I can set up a mailing list. Thank You!
- There is no plan to record / podcast this course.
The schedule is:
- Monday 13h15 -- 15h
- Tuesday 12h15 -- 14h
The course will take place in Lecture Hall 119 and we will start on Monday September 16 at 13h15
Further Information: Please watch this page for the latest information about the course and the lectures!

Lecture Notes

GR Lecture Notes Website (overview)
[newlecturesGR.pdf] (direct link to the pdf-file)
Note: this new version has 900+ pages (!). Please save trees and don't print all of it at once, we will only cover some small parts of the notes in the course

Prerequisites

Covariant Formulation of Special Relativity (Minkowski Geometry, Lorentz Tensor Algebra etc.)
Classical Field Theory (Action Principles for Fields)
Multivariable Calculus

Physical and Mathematical Foundations of General Relativity
- Equivalence Principle
- Geodesics
- Tensor Algebra and Tensor Calculus
- Riemannian Geometry and Curvature Tensor
- Physics in a Gravitational Field
- Einstein-Equations and Einstein-Hilbert Action

Selected Applications
- Solar System Tests of General Relativity
- Black Holes
- Basics of Cosmology
- ...

Rough Outline

Week 01: Section 01
Week 02: Section 02
Week 03: Section 03
Week 04: Section 04 & Section 25
Week 05: Sections 04 / 05 & Sections 25 / 26
Week 06: Section 05 /06 & Section 26 / 27
Week 07: Sections 06 / 07 & Section 27
Week 08: Sections 07 / 08 & Section 27
Week 09: Section 08
Week 10: Sections 19, 20, 24
Week 11: Sections 09, 10 & Section 23
Week 12: Sections 33 -- 38
Week 13: Sections 33 -- 38
Week 14: Sections 33 -- 38

(note: Section XX means that we will cover some bits and pieces of that section)

Exercises and Solutions

Highly Recommended Literature

Excellent Introductory (Undergraduate) Text

J.B. Hartle: Gravity, An introduction to Einstein's General Relativity

Elegant Modern Slightly More Advanced Books

R.M. Wald: General Relativity
S. Carroll: Spacetime and Geometry, an Introduction to General Relativity

Classics

C.W. Misner, K.S. Thorne, J.A. Wheeler: Gravitation
S. Weinberg: Gravitation and Cosmology

Other Personal Favourites

R.U. Sexl, H.K. Urbantke: Gravitation und Kosmologie
N. Straumann: General Relativity
S.W. Hawking, G.F.R. Ellis: The Large Scale Structure of Space-Time
E. Poisson: A Relativist's Toolkit

Other Recommended Recent/New Books

A. Zee: Einstein Gravity in a Nutshell

GR Lectures Notes on the WWW and related Online Resources

Note: the resources mentioned below are approved/recommended. If you come across, and want to use, some other online resources, please come and show them to me (also in GR, there is much more low- than high-quality stuff floating around on the WWW and it may not always be easy for you to decide at first sight which is which).
Please let me know of any broken (no longer existing) links.